Objective
Insect natural enemies play a key role for pest control in sustainable farming systems, however relatively little is understood regarding the trophic relationships within the natural enemy community and their effect on the level of biological control. The pro posed project addresses this lack of knowledge, as it will quantify arthropod predation on parasitized hosts by using, for the first time, a molecular approach. This will enable us to track the effects of predation on quantitative parasitoid food webs in organic and conventional farming systems and reveal the impact of the predators on the level of pest control.
There are three main objectives to this research program:
1. To establish a molecular method for detecting parasitoid DNA within predators that has eaten parasitized hosts. Furthermore, rapid screening techniques will be evaluated for their utility to make the task of screening large numbers of field samples rapidly easier.
2. To screen field-collected predators for DNA of parasitoids and their hosts.
3. To compare parasitism rates with predation rates on parasitized hosts in organic and conventional farms, and quantify the effects of predation on quantitative parasitoid food webs.
If predators are selectively taking parasitized hosts this may actually inhibit t he rate of growth of the parasitoids population and have negative consequences for pest control. The outcomes of this project will provide an important proof of concept for further research looking at the effects of predator-parasitoid interactions on natural pest control. The applicant will benefit greatly from the period of advanced training as (i) the host institution is at the fore front internationally in this research field, (ii) high quality infrastructure is available for the execution of the project and ( iii) the project is highly complementary to the applicant's own scientific research priorities and interests.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture agronomy plant protection
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture sustainable agriculture
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics DNA
- natural sciences biological sciences biological behavioural sciences ethology biological interactions
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology invertebrate zoology
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP6-2002-MOBILITY-5
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Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
CARDIFF
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.