Remote sensing and management of leaf-cutting ants and lepidopteran defoliators in eucalyptus plantations

Abstract

Eucalyptus plantations provide the main raw material for the Brazilian forest sector and, as in other cultures, insect pests, mainly leaf-cutting ants and defoliating Lepidoptera, can reduce its productivity. Infestation and damage by these species need to be monitored to reduce losses to producers, which can be done by remote sensing. This work approaches two forms of remote sensing for the management of forest pests. In the first article, it was used to verify the influence of landscape on the infestation of new leaf-cutting ant nests in eucalyptus plantations. The presence of a higher percentage of areas with native forest in the neighborhood reduces the number of new nests in the eucalyptus trees, in contrast to pasture areas. In the second article, remote sensing was used to detect areas damaged by leaf-cutting ants and Lepidoptera and the possibility of identifying damage by imaging. The accuracy to identify healthy areas attacked by these insects was high. Light reflectance differed between damaged and non-damaged areas. The reflectance pattern in areas defoliated by leaf-cutting ants was not very different, but it was differentiated from areas with healthy trees in most of the response variables. Remote sensing can be used to monitor pests in eucalyptus plantations