Snyder, W.

William Snyder

Evaluating the Impacts of Border Vegetation Patterns on Multifunctional Biodiversity and Crop Production in Washington Blueberry

Herbaceous flowering or woody plant borders are controversial in commercial blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) production. Border vegetation has the potential to increase populations of native pollinators and beneficial insects and birds that feed on key blueberry pests, such as spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii; SWD); however, they may also draw pollinators away from the crop, serve […]

Biodiversity and the Natural Suppression of Human Pathogens

Restoring livestock to mixed-vegetable farms allows on-farm fertilizer production and the sale of high-value meat products.  Likewise, diversifying farms with native plants provides habitat for pest-killing birds and predatory insects. Unfortunately, both practices carry the risk of unintentional contamination of produce by human pathogens (e.g., E. coli O157:H7), transmitted through livestock feces or those of […]

Sequencing the genomes of two critically-important biological control agents, the insect-killing nematodes Steinernema feltiae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora

Potatoes are a valuable Washington crop that is threatened by devastating insect pests. We have found (1) that insect-killing “entomopathogenic” nematodes (EPNs) are key natural enemies of these insects, and (2) that organic farming greatly increases EPN genetic diversity. Additionally, genetically-diverse mixes of EPN strains are more lethal to insects than any single worm strain. […]

Effects of Nematode Genetic Diversity on Management of Potato Pests

Market forces are driving conventional Columbia Basin potato growers towards less-chemically-intensive pest management approaches, such as biological control. Insect-killing, entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), which live in the soil, have great potential for controlling insects with belowground life stages — such as the Colorado potato beetle. Our initial results suggest that EPNs can be incredibly abundant in […]

Local and landscape-scale conservation of beneficial predators in Columbia Basin Potato Crops

Biological control by naturally-occurring predatory insects and spiders is an ecologically friendly and sustainable approach to pest management. Biological control is often underutilized, however, in part because we know little about how to successfully conserve predators to maximize their impacts on pests. Here, in Washington potato fields, we investigated the effects of planting wildflower insectaries […]

Conservation Biology of Syrphids, Predators of Woolly Aphid in Central Washington.

Woolly apple aphid Eriosoma lanigerum is a secondary pest whose outbreaks have occurred more often since about 2000. The increase in aphid outbreaks appears to be associated with the changes in pesticide programs and disruption of biological control. Nevertheless, there is a good opportunity for biological control of this pest in orchards under “soft” pesticide […]