TECHNICAL PHYTOSANITARY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE LANDSCAPE

Learning Objectives

• Pest management of artropod parasites of forest, wild area and landscape plants

  Provide knowledge on insect species and other arthropods of phytosanitary interest in green areas, parks and natural environments in order to make the student skilled in managing the infestations of pests and intervene with the most suitable control strategies.

  The student will acquire the theoretical knowledge and skills to develop interventions for the defense of plants from harmful arthropods in the various types of greenery, operating in compliance with the rules governing the sector and human health.

• Environmental Applied Plant Pathology

  The main objective is to provide the knowledge of plant pathogens, mode of infection, damage, diagnosis and strategies to control diseases of plants in green areas, parks and in natural environments. To provide also theoretical and practical knowledge to plan environmental and landscape protection measures as well as bioremediation strategies in compliance with both phytosanitary legislation and the health of workers and citizens.

Course Structure

• Pest management of artropod parasites of forest, wild area and landscape plants

  Frontal lessons; practical exercises in the laboratory; educational experiences in the field; in-depth seminars. The lectures will allow to acquire the necessary knowledge; practical laboratory activities, seminars and field experiences will provide useful tools for acquiring skills.

  Should teaching be carried out in mixed mode or remotely, it may be necessary to introduce changes with respect to previous statements, in line with the programme planned and outlined in the syllabus.

  As a guarantee of equal opportunities and in compliance with current laws, interested students can ask for a personal interview in order to plan any compensatory and/or dispensatory measures, based on their specific needs and on teaching objectives of the discipline. It is also possible to ask the departmental contacts of CInAP (Center for Active and Participatory Integration - Services for Disabilities and/or DSAs), in the persons of professors Giovanna Tropea Garzia and Anna De Angelis.

• Environmental Applied Plant Pathology

  The course will consist of lectures and laboratory exercises are planned; the activities will include i) the recognition of the main symptoms of plant diseases; ii) learning the main techniques of isolation of fungal pathogens from infected plant tissues. Students are required to participate actively during both the lectures and laboratory activities. Furthermore, students will be asked to prepare a report on a monographic topic chosen with the teacher which will then have to be presented during the lessons as a power point. This will allow students to acquire a series of knowledge related to the following aspects: a) perform a bibliographic research by consulting articles and websites on the chosen topic, taking care to select the most reliable bibliographic sources; b) prepare a report on the basis of a well-drawn outline; c) set up a power point by choosing appropriate images and structuring the slides in an appropriate manner; d) present the talk in public and answer to the questions of the teacher.

  If actions were required to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, classes could be taught online or in a mixed mode.

  Information for students with disabilities

  As a guarantee of equal opportunities and in compliance with current laws, interested students can ask for a personal interview in order to plan any compensatory and/or dispensatory measures, based on their specific needs and on teaching objectives of the discipline. It is also possible to ask the departmental contacts of CInAP (Center for Active and Participatory Integration - Services for Disabilities and/or DSAs), in the persons of professors Giovanna Tropea Garzia and Anna De Angelis.

Detailed Course Content

• Pest management of artropod parasites of forest, wild area and landscape plants

  Phytosanitary problems in different types of green areas. Biological characteristics and control methods of Arthropods pests of urban green spaces, garden trees, forest and natural environments.

  Functional groups of insect and mite pests with specific details of the species of interest in the different types of greenery: Sap sucking insects (Tisanoptera, Hemiptera Heteroptera and Homoptera Sternorryncha); Defoliating insects (Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera); wood borers (Isoptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera); Gall-inducing arthropods (Mites, Insects: Aphids, Diptera, Hymenoptera). For each group a detailed list of the treated species is provided to the student on the STUDIUM platform (http://studium.unict.it).

  Control methods with reduced environmental impact in relation to the specific ecological contexts and the peculiar conditions of use.

  Phytosanitary reflections in the design of the green and the stability conditions of the trees.

• Environmental Applied Plant Pathology

  Reminding of knowledge of general Plant Pathology: concept of disease, symptomatology, diagnosis, major conventional and innovative methods of diagnosis , main characteristics of plants pathogens, disease development phases, how pathogens attack plants, how plants defend themselves, epidemiology.

  Patologia vegetale speciale.

  Main diseases of ornamental and Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub: wood rots, root rot, powdery mildews, chestnut blight, Dutch elm disease, blue stain canker of plane, crown gall, vascular diseases.

  Plants and pollution: effects of polluting substances on plant; phytotossicity of polluting substances; biological monitoring of polluting substances.

  Beneficial microrganisms: microorganisms of the rhizosphere, biofertilisers and antagonists; role of pathogens and antagonists in plant remediation.

  Wood decay processes of trees: Visual Tree Assessment (VTA); diagnostic methods for wood alterations.

  Principles of control of plant diseases: integrated control strategies; principles of plant health legislation; plant quarantine measures and mandatory control measures.

  Laboratory exercises: recognition of symptoms of major diseases of ornamental and forest plants observation under a stereomicroscope of phytopathological samples; examination of reproductive structures of plant pathogenic fungi with MO; Isolation methods of some causal agents responsible for serious diseases of the forest and ornamental plants and their molecular characterization.

  Field trips: monitoring of diseases in nurseries and in forest. seminars on specific topics held by experts in the field. Reference databases, reference texts and scientific periodical consultation, web surfing of phytopathological websites.

Textbook Information

• Pest management of artropod parasites of forest, wild area and landscape plants

  Testo 1: BATTISTI A., DE BATTISTI R., FACCOLI M., MASUTTI L., PAOLUCCI P., STERGULC F., Lineamenti di Zoologia forestale. Padova University Press, 2013.

  Testo 2: ARRU G., Entomologia forestale. Clesav, Milano, 1980.

  Testo 3: COULSON R., WITTER J. A., Forest entomology, ecology and management. A Wiley-Intersc. Publ. USA.

  Testo 4: CAMPBELL N. A., REECE J., L’essenziale di Biologia. Zanichelli Editore Bologna.

  Testo 5: DAVIES R.G., Lineamenti di entomologia. Zanichelli Editore , Bologna.

  Testo 6: GULLAN P.J., CRANSTON S., Lineamenti di Entomologia. Zanichelli editore Bologna.

  Testo 7: MASUTTI L., ZANGHERI S., Entomologia generale ed applicata, Edizioni Cedam, Padova, 2001.

  Testo 8: TREMBLAY E., Entomologia applicata vol. 1-2-3, Liguori Editore, Napoli.

  Testo 9: FERRARI M., MENTA A., MARCON E., Malattie e parassiti delle piante da fiore, ornamentali e forestali. Vol 1, 2. Edagricole, 2003.

  Testo 10: ALFORD D.V., Pests of ornamental trees, shrubs and Flowers – A coulour handbook, Manson Publishing, 2012

  Testo 11: PONTI I, LAFFI F, POLLINI A., Avversità delle piante ornamentali, Ed L’Inf. Agrario.

• Environmental Applied Plant Pathology

  1) G. Vannacci et al. - Patologia vegetale - 2021 EdiSES Edizioni

  2) George N. Agrios – Plant Pathology – Academic. Press. Inc., San Diego, California (VI edizione)

  3) Capretti P. e A. Ragazzi- Elementi di Patologia Forestale – Patron Editore Bologna

  4) Garibaldi A., M.L.Gullino, V. Lisa - Malattie delle piante ornamentali- Calderini Edagricole

  5) Forest Pathology and Plant Health - Special Issue Published in Forests - Editori M. Garbelotto & P. Gonthier. MDPI AG Basel, Switzerland (OPEN ACCESS: https://www.mdpi.com/books/pdfview/book/501)