Broad Sense Pesticide Research
Research into broad sense sustainability deals with the impacts of forestry activities in a more holistic manner, in light of wider economic, social and environment issues and standards.
The implementation of stringent forestry certification standards is a good example of this. These standards ensure certified companies are meeting, and exceeding, environmental, social and economic standards set both nationally and internationally.
Current broad sense research projects TIPWG is involved in.
Environmental fate of pesticides (herbicides fungicides insecticides) within a forestry catchment
| Person/s responsible | Funding/Supporting bodies | Problem | Action/s | Outcomes (progress) | Written outputs |
| Noxolo Ndlovu (PhD Forestry) Keith Little | Nelson Mandela University SCION SETA TIPWG Chemical Companies | Problem: There is limited environmental impact data for commonly used pesticides (herbicides, fungicides, insecticides) and/or chemicals (fertilizers, hydrogels) within South African planted forests Objective/Need Obtain data from forestry catchments related to the off-target, off-site fate of commonly used pesticides and other establishment chemicals, and benchmark these against acceptable world-standards | 2018 1. Draft initial proposal which will include required (additional) funding 2. Internship in NZ and involvement with fertilizer catchment study 3. Full research proposal 2019-2020 4. Trial implementation, sampling and processing of samples 5. Complete sampling 2021 6. Complete thesis | Data collection completed in 2020 for both the soil and water fate chapters; Completed Chapter 2 (An evaluation of the environmental behaviour, fate and risk of key pesticides used in South African forest plantations). | Chapter 2 to Southern Forests for potential publication |
The development of an economic, environment and social pesticide risk model for plantation forests in South Africa
| Person/s responsible | Funding/Supporting bodies | Problem | Action/s | Outcomes (progress) | Written outputs |
| Jonathan Roberts (PhD Forestry) Keith Little | Nelson Mandela University TIPWG Chemical Companies | Problem: There is a lack of a central and accurate data-base related to herbicide-use and the associated target and off-target impacts (biotic and abiotic) within the forestry sector in South Africa Objective/Need Determine the actual types and quantities of herbicides applied within plantations at various stages of stand development; and obtain associated/support information related to target and off-target impacts when herbicides are applied | Set up data base obtain industry herbicide data related to: - past and current herbicide use - EHS and toxicology criteria and indicators - past and current trials that have used herbicides as treatments | Data-base set up. Spreadsheet and associated summerised. | Report complete. Currently in review at Australian Forestry Journal. |
| Jonathan Roberts (PhD Forestry) Keith Little | Nelson Mandela University TIPWG Chemical Companies | Problem: Most pest-related research only highlights the most effective treatments, which in most instances involves herbicides. Objective/Need Revisit completed weed-control research to obtain information related to practices that may not have been the best, but that still showed promise in terms of management (cultural and integrated practices included) | Collation in progress of past research involving herbicides to highlight any practices that have resulted in the: - the role and importance of herbicides. - alternative practices that result in reduced herbicide use (manual, biological and/or cultural methods), and - integrated practices that combine the above | Trials related to vegetation management collated and summerised. | Report completed for eucalyptus trials. Due to be submitted for potential publication. Report for pine trials due January 2021. |
| Jonathan Roberts (PhD Forestry) Keith Little | Nelson Mandela University TIPWG Chemical Companies | Problem: There is a lack of data related to the development of action thresholds and cost-benefit analysis across multiple-data sets Objective/Need Carry out cost-benefit analysis + determine action thresholds to determine treatments within trials/across sites to determine the feasibility of alternative (second-best treatments) | Obtain rotation-end data for trials which dealt with pest management so as to determine cost-benefits and from this the determination of action thresholds | Trials related to vegetation management collated and summerised. | Report due February 2021. |
| Jonathan Roberts (PhD Forestry) Keith Little | Nelson Mandela University TIPWG Chemical Companies | Problem: No comprehensive weed risk models exist within South Africa that are based on actual data Objective/Need Develop an economic risk model regarding the use of herbicides that take into consideration economic, environmental and social benefits | Risk assessment - source models/tools in existence and used around the world that deal with risk assessments in terms of environmental, social and economic criteria - refine (or develop hybrid model) for SA conditions and test using outputs obtained from points 2/3/4 above - tool developed for use by SA forest industry | Trials related to vegetation management collated and summerised. Still must source environmental and social benefits of herbicides. | Report due March 2021. |
Pesticide-use within South African forestry nurseries and the testing of non-hazardous products for pest and disease control
| Person/s responsible | Funding/Supporting bodies | Problem | Action/s | Outcomes (progress) | Written outputs |
| Keith Little Jacqui Meyer Jolanda Roux Ilke Opperman | Nelson Mandela University TIPWG SGASA Sector Innovation Fund | Problem: As biotic and abiotic risks cannot be fully managed through an improvement of tree resilience alone, other methods have been incorporated into an integrated pest management plan and include biological, cultural and chemical control. The chemicals available to manage these pests are strictly regulated resulting in a limited list of active ingredients that are allowed to be used on forestry seedlings. Objective/Need: The main aim of this project was to quantify pesticide-use within South African forestry nurseries and to identify and test alternative less-hazardous product for the control of the most prevalent insect pests and pathogens that occur within these forestry nurseries. To achieve this, the project was divided into three sub-objectives. The first included nursery visits to identify the most prevalent insect pests and pathogens along with the chemicals and/or products used to manage these pests. The second included classifying the currently used chemicals and products as well as identifying alternative less-hazardous chemicals/products to manage the pests identified in the first sub-objective. The third sub-objective included screening trials of the alternative less-hazardous products identified for the most prevalent pathogens. | 1. Quantification of products used (type and amount) for the management of insect pests and pathogens in South African forest nurseries. 2. The classification of toxicity levels for current and potential products for the management of key forest nursery-related pests and pathogens. 3.The testing of non-hazardous products for the management of key forestry nursery-related pests and pathogens. | 2019 – completion of MSc proposal and receiving ethical approval for the project, which allowed for nursery visits to populate a database set for sub-objective one. 2020 – implementation and completion of pathogen screening trials as well as writing up the thesis 2021 – completing the writing of the thesis |
Completed broad sense research projects TIPWG was involved in.
Understanding the cost benefits of vegetation management and the role that herbicides play in term of achieving optimum rotation-end yield
| Person/s responsible | Funding/Supporting bodies | Problem | Action/s | Outcomes (progress) | Written outputs |
| Keith Little Anssi Ahtikoski | Nelson Mandela University TIPWG LUKE | Problem: There is a general lack of appropriate rotation-end cost-benefit data for various vegetation control practices Objective/Need 1. Test financial (cost-benefit) models on one rotation-end data set 2. Using the above financial model the relative importance of chemical/manual/cultural vegetation management techniques can be tested using multiple data sets so as to ensure long-term productivity | 1. The financial performance for vegetation control were tested using one rotation-end eucalypt data-set, whereby various financial sensitivity models were applied and compared 2. Methods applied in point 1 above will be used to analyse 7 x completed eucalypt trials that will highlight cost:benefits of different vegetation management techniques (chemical vs. manual vs. cultural) | 1. The financial performance (expressed as bare land value [BLV] with 6% discounting) of the Weedfree treatment outperformed the other treatments and was 37% higher than the Weedy check. The BLVs of the Moderate and Low weeding intensity treatments were similar to each other, indicating that these treatments were both feasible in terms of financial performance. However, the 2 m Row weeding had c. 10% higher BLV than the Moderate and Low weeding intensity treatments, and could be considered as a viable alternative to the Weedfree treatment, but with reduced herbicide-use. 2. No progress as of yet (due end-2018) | Little KM, Ahtikoski A, Morris A. 2018. Rotation-end financial performance for vegetation control in Eucalyptus smithii, South Africa. Southern Forests Published online |
For more broad sense pesticide research projects being conducted in South Africa visit www.icfr.ukzn.ac.za