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caterina nerney
Sunflower moth and a native bee Capay Valley sunflower field Self seeding sunflowers, Yolo County |
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research My overarching research interest is to understand how the management of agricultural systems can optimize ecosystem services such as pest regulation, disease resistance and pollination, while meeting the needs of human nutrition. To this end, I am studying the community ecology of the parasitoids of a native pest at the habitat, population and landscape level in the model system of annual sunflower (Helianthus annuus), which is a native plant to North America that has become and important oil and confection crop in the last two hundred years. Self seeding annual sunflower and managed hybrid seed sunflower fields co-occur in California’s Sacramento Valley, within a matrix of restored wetlands, agricultural fields and urban areas. The plant-host-parasitoid interactions in this system provide an opportunity to understand the interplay between naturalized and domesticated plant habitats, their herbivores and their natural enemies in turn, within a fragmented landscape. I believe insights into the factors that are most influential in structuring these macroinvertebrate communities will be important considerations as we continue to build the theoretical framework supporting Conservation Biological Control and Natural Systems Agriculture. I am using field and laboratory experiments, population genetics and landscape level GIS analysis to pursue the question: What factors are most important in determining the structure of the parasitoid guild attacking a native pest species?
parasitoid probing self seeding sunflower
why I care about sustainable agriculture |
Contact Information (510) 642-3989 5057 Valley Life Science Building UC Berkeley, CA 94720
Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, one of my field research sites in the Sacramento Valley
a caterpillar in my Berkeley backyard!
la familia
las abejas |
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