master- and bachelor thesis topics 2018-2019 master
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Master- and Bachelor Thesis Topics 2018-2019 Master-/bachelor-oppgaver
Plant protection
Plantevernfag
Her er mange forslag til spennende oppgaver innen plantevernfag, d.v.s. ugras/herbologi,
plantepatologi, landbruksentomologi og pesticidkjemi. Dersom du vil finne ut mer om
oppgavene ta kontakt med veilederen(e) som er oppført, med kopi til faggruppelederen i
Plantevern og Matplanter [email protected]. Du kan også komme med eget forslag til
oppgaver.
Below you will find many interesting thesis topics in plant protection, including weed science,
plant pathology, agricultural entomology and pesticide science. If you want to know more
about a topic, contact the supervisor listed for the topic, and copy to the head of section
[email protected]. You can also suggest a topic that is not listed here.
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Agricultural entomology
Landbruksentomologi
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28 Effect of UV-B used against plant diseases on biological pest management in
greenhouses and plastic tunnels (UV-Bio)
Supervisor: Nina Svae Johansen, NIBIO/NMBU. [email protected]
Background: Biological control of insect and mite pests is the most important control
method in greenhouse cucumber, tomato, strawberries, herbs and berry crops today, and is
also used in berries grown in plastic tunnels. Powdery mildew is a great problem in these
crops, and is today mainly controlled by fungicides. Recent research has, however, shown that
this plant disease can be controlled by treating the plants with very low dosages with
ultraviolet B wavelengths (UVB) during the night. A robot for automatic UVB-treatment is
currently under development for use in commercial greenhouses. The growers want to use
less fungicides, and therefore have great interest in the robot, but they need to be sure that the
UVB-treatment is safe for the biocontrol agents (= natural enemies of the pests used in
biological control) and does not interfere with biological control.
The aim of this project is to be able to combine biological pest control with UVB-treatment
against powdery mildew in edible crops grown in greenhouses and plastic tunnels (cucumber,
tomato, strawberries and herbs).
Model organisms:
Pests: Two-spotted spider mite and aphids
Biocontrol agents: Predatory mites, predatory bugs and aphid parasitoids.
Fig. 2 Adult and egg of two-
spotted spider mite (Photo:
K. Westrum, NIBIO)
Fig. 3 The predatory bug
Macrolophus is used
against spider mites and
whiteflies (Photo: E.
Fløistad, NIBIO)
Fig. 4 Parasitoids and
parasitized aphids (Photo: E.
Fløistad, NIBIO).
The research questions that we will look into are:
UVB is harmful to insects and mites if they are exposed in sufficiently high dosages. But
how and to what degree will the low UVB dose used to control powdery mildew affect the
different pests and biocontrol agents?
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Will the mobile stages of the different pests and biocontrol agents try to avoid the UVB-
irradiation? Will the avoidance response be different in the different species?
Many herbivore pests live on the underside of the leaves or otherwise hidden in the plant
canopy. Green light is attractive to many pests and biocontrol agents. Can green light be
used to lure the pests to the UVB-irradiated parts of the plants? How will the green light
affect the biocontrol agents?
Pests and biocontrol agents may respond differently on the UVB-treatment. Will this
influence the balance between pests and biocontrol agent population development? Will
this affect the success of the biological pest control in the greenhouse and plastic tunnels?
If UVB has negative impact on biological control: How can the use of biocontrol agents or
the use of the UVB-equipment be adjusted to compensate for this?
Project period: 01.03.2016 – 28.02.2019.
Time for doing experiments: All year round, depending on type of study
Type of studies: Basic studies of biology and behaviour of pests and biocontrol agents in
laboratory and research greenhouses and/or studies of population development and biological
control in commercial greenhouses (cucumber, tomato and herbs, plastic tunnels with
strawberries).
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29 Optimal strategy for the use of pesticides in Norwegian berry production
(OptiBær). Work package 2: Reduced risk of pesticide resistance development in
two- spotted spider mite
Supervisor: Nina Svae Johansen, NIBIO/NMBU. [email protected]
Background: Two-spotted spider mites have a high risk of developing resistance to
acaricides (= pesticides used against mites). The lack of effective alternative control methods
and the few acaricides with different modes of action available for use against mite pests in
Norwegian berry crops further increase the resistance risk. Globally, the two-spotted spider
mite has developed resistance to 94 different active ingredients (479 cases) in total, amongst
them are four out of the five active ingredients that are registered for mite control in berry
crops in Norway. Acaricide resistance in two-spotted spider mites is very little studied in
Norway. However, indications of resistance to two active ingredients was found around the
year 2000, and the growers strongly suspect resistance in e.g. strawberries.
The aim of work-package 2 in this project is to develop a strategy for reducing the risk of
pesticide resistance development in spider mites in Norwegian strawberry and raspberry
production.
Two-spotted spider mite
and mite damage in
raspberry. Photo: E.
Fløistad (left.) og N.
Trandem (right),
NIBIO.
The research questions that we will look into are:
• Has resistance to the currently used acaricides developed in two-spotted spider mites in
the most important strawberry and raspberry production sites in Norway?
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• Are there differences in the level of acaricide resistance and resistance development in
spider mites collected from plastic tunnels and field crops?
• How does the rotation of acaricides with different modes of action, reduced dosages and
spray coverage on the plants affect acaricide resistance development in the spider mites?
• Can the mite control strategy be changed in such a way that the risk for acaricide
resistance is reduced without loss of berry yield and quality?
Project period: 01-03 2016 – 31-12-2018.
Time for doing experiments: May-September each year.
Type of studies: Resistance tests (bioassays) in laboratory and/or efficacy experiments in
fields. Development of anti-resistance strategies for mite control in strawberry and raspberries
at farm and growing district level.
Read more about pesticide resistance:
Plantevernmiddelresistens hos skadedyr:
http://www.bioforsk.no/ikbViewer/Content/117065/TEMA_10-
1_PVMRes_v06_sendt%20Peder%20Lombn%C3%A6s%2026%20jan%202015.pdf
FAO Guidelines on Prevention and Management of Pesticide Resistance:
http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/agphome/documents/Pests_Pesticides/Code/FAO_R
MG_Sept_12.pdf
EPPO standard on pest risk analysis PP1/213(3): http://pp1.eppo.int/getnorme.php?id=260
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30 Insecticide resistance monitoring and management
Supervisor: Nina Svae Johansen, NIBIO/NMBU. [email protected]
Background: Pesticide has become an increasing problem in Norwegian agriculture. Insect
pests of concern are the e.g. pollen beetles (Brassicogethes/ Meligethes spp.) and flea beetles
in oilseed crops, diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) in cruciferous crops and two-spotted
spider mite (Tetranychus urticae) in soft fruits berry production. Some populations of these
pests have developed resistance towards one or more pesticides. In order to obtain less and a
more sustainable use of insecticides, and reduce the risk of resistance development, there is a
need to develop resistance management strategies for use at farm and district level, and to
include anti-resistance strategies in integrated pest management programs.
Fig. 1. Adult and egg of two-
spotted spider mite (Photo:
K. Westrum, NIBIO)
Fig. 2. Adult pollen
beetles on spring rape
flower buds. (Photo: E.
Fløistad, NIBIO)
Fig. 3 Larvae of diamondback
moth (Photo: E. Fløistad,
NIBIO).
Thesis: Different approaches are relevant, and a specific approach must be made based on the
student's field of interests. The master thesis will be a part of the projects Pesticide resistance:
Mutation, selection and dispersal (RESISTOPP) 2017-2021 or Pesticide resistance:
Preparedness and anti-resistance strategies (2017-2019).
Examples of topics are:
Monitoring the susceptibility in one of the mentioned pests towards insecticides used for
their control. The work will include collection of pests from field, resistance tests
(bioassays) in laboratory and/or efficacy experiments in fields.
Effect of the composition of the pollen beetle species-complex on resistance level: The work
will include identification of pollen beetles collected from oilseed rape fields with
morphological or molecular methods (beetles collected in 2016-2018 are available as well)
and resistance tests (historical and/ or new data).
Effect of resistance development on the fitness of two-spotted spider mites. The work will
include resistance selection in a strain of the two spotted spider mites, and experiments to
study of how resistance affects the biology of the mites. Laboratory experiments.
Development of anti-resistance strategies for pest control in one of the crops for use at farm
and district level: The work will include literature study, compilation of current knowledge
on resistance management and interviews with agricultural advisors and farmers, and can
be combined with one of the above-mentioned tasks.
You will get help with the handling of insecticides.
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Time for doing different tasks: Field collection of pests during May-August; resistance testing
with bioassays during May-December; fitness-resistance studies in laboratory and development
of and anti-resistance strategies during January-December.
Read more (in Norwegian):
Johansen NS, Asalf B, Eikemo H, Ficke A, Herrero M, Le VH, Netland J, Ringselle B, Schjøll
AF, Stensvand A, Strømeng GM (2017). Plantevernmiddelresistens hos skadegjørere i
norske jord- og hagebrukskulturer. NIBIO Rapport 3 (150) 2017. 60 pp.
https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/handle/11250/2481104
Pollen beetles: https://www.plantevernleksikonet.no/l/oppslag/73/
Diamondback moth: https://www.plantevernleksikonet.no/l/oppslag/93/
Two spotted spider mites: https://www.plantevernleksikonet.no/l/oppslag/19/
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31 Biological control of the new thrips Thrips setosus in protected
crops
Supervisor: Nina Svae Johansen, NIBIO/NMBU. [email protected]
Background: A new thrips (Thrips setosus) from Asia, has spread very rapidly in European
countries during the last 3 years. As this thrips can cause considerable damage in, it has been
of concern to the European Plant Protection Organization (EPPO). In 2018, T. setosus was
introduced to Norwegian greenhouses on imported plants. Currently, this thrips can only be
controlled by insecticides. This is a problem for growers who use biological control as their
main control strategy. Predatory mites, predatory bugs and nematodes are approved and used
for biological control against thrips in Norway, but we do not know if they are able to control
T. setosus.
Fig. 1. Adult Thrips setosus. Fig. 2. Thrips setosus on the underside
of a leaf and thrips damage on petals.
Thesis: Investigate if any of the approved natural enemies can be used for biological control of
the new thrips T. setosus. According to the student’s fields of interest, the work can include
predation/infection studies of one or two selected natural enemies in laboratory experiments or
in controlled climate chambers. It might be possible to do biological control experiments in a
commercial greenhouse if a grower are willing to act as a host (this might imply travelling to
the greenhouse).
The student should take contact early, because we need to establish a culture of T. setosus well
in advance before the experiments can start.
Read about Thrips setosus:
In Norwegian: https://www.plantevernleksikonet.no/l/oppslag/1882/
In English: https://gd.eppo.int/taxon/THRISE
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32 Management of the alien invasive horse-chestnut leafminer
Cameraria ohridella
Supervisor: Nina Svae Johansen, NIBIO/NMBU. [email protected]
Background: The horse-chestnut leafminer (Cameraria ohridella) was first described in
Macedonia in 1984, it then spread rapidly accross Europe. The larvae, mining in the leaves, has
caused considerable damage on horse-chestnut threes since the 1980’es. The horse-chestnut
leaf miner was found for the first time in Drøbak in Norway in 2013, and has so far been found
at several locations around Oslofjorden, including in the park at NMBU, and at one location in
Vest-Agder. There are little experience on how this pest can be managed in Norway.
Fig. 1. Adult horse-chestnut leaf miner Fig. 2. Leaf mines made by larvae of horse-
chestnut leaf miner
Thesis: Different approaches are relevant, and a specific approach must be made based on the
student's field of interests.
Examples of topics are:
Investigate current distribution of the horse-chestnut leafminer in Norway.
At selected location(s):
o Phenology of the horse-chestnut leafminer
o Survey of natural enemies of the horse-chestnut leafminer at selected locations
o Investigate winter survival of the horse-chestnut leafminer at selected locations
Develop a guideline for prevention and management of horse-chestnut leafminer on trees
in urban areas.
Read more about the horse-chestnut leafminer:
In Norwegian: https://www.plantevernleksikonet.no/l/oppslag/1850/
In English: https://gd.eppo.int/taxon/LITHOD