UMD Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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2012 - 20172

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    USING A LIVING MULCH AND WOLF SPIDERS TO MANAGE PEST ARTHROPODS IN CUCUMBER
    (2017) Kahl, Hanna Maria; Hooks, Cerruti; Entomology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Pest management practices that conserve beneficial organisms and improve yield are needed. This research aims to determine how: 1) red clover living mulch impacts insect herbivores, arthropod natural enemies, and cucumber quality and yield, and 2) wolf spiders influence cucumber beetles and cucumber plant attributes. Herbivore and natural enemy abundances on cucumber plants in plots with and without interplanted red clover (RC) were compared using foliage searches and sticky cards. Effects of spiders on cucumber beetle behavior, densities, and mortality was assessed in cages with and without a wolf spider and/or their cues. RC plots had fewer striped cucumber beetles and aphids, and more big-eyed bugs and minute pirate bugs. Spotted cucumber beetle densities were reduced and striped cucumber beetle mortality was higher in cages with than without spiders. These studies demonstrated that red clover living mulch and wolf spiders can be used to decrease pest arthropods in cucumber.
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    EVALUATING THE IMPACTS OF CROTOLARIA JUNCEA, SUNN HEMP, ON ARTHROPOD POPULATIONS AND PLANT GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN A ZUCCHINI INTER-CROPPED AGROECOSYSTEM
    (2012) Hinds, Jermaine Leabert; Hooks, Cerruti R.R; Entomology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Recently, studies have shown that crop diversification strategies can be effective and sustainable means of suppressing pests, improving crop growth and enhancing beneficial soil organisms. Experiments were conducted in 2009, 2010 and 2011 to investigate the impacts of the tropical cover crop sunn hemp (SH), Crotalaria juncea, utilized as a living mulch and green manure on insect populations, crop growth and the nematode community. When inter-planted as a living mulch, SH reduced populations of cucumber beetles (Acalymma spp. and Diabrotica spp.) compared to monoculture zucchini, Cucurbita pepo, plots. When SH was utilized as an organic mulch, SH treatment plots resulted in significantly larger zucchini plant biomass and yield than monoculture plots. In 2011 when SH was strip-tilled, this resulted in a more nutrient enriched soil as indicated by nematode abundances and calculated soil health indices compared to monoculture plots. Organic fertilizer application resulted in late-season increases in bacteria feeding nematodes