Entomology-Faculty: Barbercheck

Mary Barbercheck
Professor

The Pennsylvania State University
516 Ag Sciences & Industries Bldg.
University Park, PA 16802

Phone: 814-863-2982
Email: meb34@psu.edu

Current Graduate Students:
Randa Jabbour

Education: B.A. University of California, Santa Barbara,1980. Environmental Biology
M.S. University of California, Davis,1982. Plant Protection and Pest Management
Ph.D. University of California, Davis,1990. Entomology

Department Focus Area:

Ecological Applications, Disease Ecology and Biology

Research Programs & Interests:

Biological soil quality and sustainability - A major area of emphasis in my research program is on the impact of agricultural and forestry practices on soil biodiversity and function. Soil organisms are tightly linked functionally to above-ground interactions and are involved in ecosystem processes such as nutrient cycling, carbon storage, maintenance of plant diversity, biological control of human and agricultural pests, and bioremediation, and therefore, are of critical importance to ecosystem function and productivity. Agricultural and forest management has generally been driven by production at the expense of the environment and, in many cases, the use of pesticides and fertilizers has masked the importance of soil biota. Consequently there is a lack of data on the value of services provided by soil arthropods in maintaining soil structure, soil fertility, antagonism and control of pest organisms, and in mediating processes such as decomposition and mineralization. This information will be critical as the use of synthetic inputs in agriculture and forestry become more restricted and/or less desirable. The long-term goal is to identify practices that encourage productivity and minimize costs associated with synthetic inputs and damage from insect pests.

Entomopathogenic nematode biology and ecology - Entomopathogenic nematodes are one of the few biological control agents available for soil-dwelling insect pests, and currently the ones with the greatest potential for successful commercial use. The goal of my research on entomopathogenic nematodes has been to clarify aspects of their biology and ecology that relates to their successful use as conserved or applied biological control agents. Projects have ranged from very practical to fairly basic - from efficacy trials to the effects of insect food plant on the biology and ecology of entomopathogenic nematodes and the effects of selection on several aspects of their biology. An area that I have more recently addressed is the evaluation of non-target effects of entomopathogenic nematodes. Another current area of emphasis is the impact of agricultural and forestry practices on the occurrence and abundance of entomopathogenic nematodes and fungi.

International Programs/Experience:

International Teaching: Insect Nematology. Short Course on Insect Pathology for Central America and Mexico. Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Dec. 6-11, 1999.

International Research:

Supervised PhD student who conducted her dissertation research in Mexico.
Eben, A.U. and M. E. Barbercheck. 1997. Mexican Diabroticites: I. Laboratory tests on host breadth of Acalymma and Diabrotica spp. Entomol. Exp. Appl. 82: 53-62.
Eben, A.U. and M. E. Barbercheck. 1997. Mexican Diabroticites: II. Tests for preference of cucurbit hosts by Acalymma and Diabrotica spp. Entomol. Exp. Appl. 82: 63-72.
Eben, A.U. and M. E. Barbercheck. 1996. Sculpturing of the eggshell of some Mexican diabroticites (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Coleopterists Bull. 51: 80-85.
Eben, A.U. , M. E. Barbercheck & M. Aluja. 1996. Field observations on host plant associations and natural enemies of diabroticite beetles (Chrysomelidae: Luperini) in Veracruz, Mexico. Acta Zoologica Mexicana: 67: 47-65
1982-85, Agricultural Researcher (Nematology), Plant Protection Research Institute, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Barbercheck, M.E. 1986. Control of Meloidogyne javanica in dormant grapevine nursery stock (research note). Phytophylactica 18: 39 - 40.
Barbercheck, M.E. and Heyns, J. 1986. Occurrence of Xiphinema in South African plant improvement vineyards. Phytophylactica 18: 59 - 61.
Barbercheck, M.E. and Von Broembsen, S.L. 1986. Effects of soil solarization on plant-parasitic nematodes and Phytophthora cinnamomi in South Africa. Plant Disease 70: 945 - 950.
Barbercheck, M.E., Smith, P.C., and Heyns, J. 1985. Occurrence and distribution of Xiphinema in vineyards of the Bree River Valley. Phytophylactica 17: 27 - 30.

International Presentations:

Barbercheck, M.E., and C. M. Greenwood, 2004. Response of soil fauna to inundatively and cadaver-applied entomopathogenic nematodes (Invited Symposium Paper) Society for Invertebrate Pathology 37th Annual Meeting, Helsinki, Finland, Aug. 1-5, 2004.
Barbercheck, M.E., J. Wang and C. Brownie. Adaptation of entomopathogenic nematodes to insect food plant. VIII International Colloquium on Invertebrate Pathology and Microbial Control. XXXV Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology. August 18 to 23, 2002. Foz do Iguassu, Brazil.
Koenning, S. and M.E. Barbercheck Influence of diverse agricultural systems on the population dynamics of free-living, plant-parasitic and entomopathogenic nematodes. Fourth International Congress of Nematology, 2002, Teneriffe.
Barbercheck, M.E. , Mueller, P. et al. Desarrollo y Implementacion de un Estudio de Sistemas Agricolas al Gran Escala y Larga Duracion. I Simposio Internacional sobre Ganaderia Agroecologica, La Habana, Cuba, 6-8 December, 2001.
Barbercheck, M.E. , Mueller, P. et al. Investigaciones Sobre la Ecologia del Suelo en el Centro de Sistemas Agricolas Ambientales. IV Taller Internacional sobre Recursos Fitogeneticos, Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, 3-4 December, 2001.
C. M. Newman, C.M. & M. Barbercheck . Interaction between soil mites and entomopathogenic nematodes. ESA Annual Meeting, Dec. 3-7, 2000. Montreal, Canada
Barbercheck, M.E. Evaluation of non-target effects of native and introduced entomopathogenic nematodes. COST 819 Symposium on Entomopathogenic Nematode Bacterial Complexes - Current Achievements and Prospects for the Future, Maynooth, Ireland, 12-16 April, 2000.
Barbercheck, M.E. & L. C. Millar. Non-Target Effects of Entomopathogenic Nematodes. IOBC International Symposium "Evaluating Indirect Effects of Biological Control . 10/17-20, 1999. Montpellier, France
Barbercheck, M.E. and j. Wang. Insect host plant effects on the biology of entomopathogenic nematodes. Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology, Banff, Canada, Aug.24-29, 1997
Barbercheck, M.E. Tritrophic level effects on entomopathogenic nematodes. VIth International Colloquium on Invertebrate Pathology and Microbial Control, Montpellier, France, August 1994.
Barbercheck, M.E. The effect of soil solarization, fallow, and EDB fumigation on plant-parasitic nematodes. Nematological Society of Southern Africa, Stellenbosch, SA, 1985

Relevant Publications:

Barbercheck, M. E. and Hoy, C. W. 2005. A systems approach to conservation of nematodes. In: Grewal P. S., Ehlers, R.-U. and David, Shapiro-Ilan, D. I. (Eds), Nematodes as Biocontrol Agents, CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon, UK, pp. 331-347.

Barbercheck, M. and L. D. W. Duncan. 2004. Abiotic Factors. In: R. Gaugler, A. Bilgrami, (Eds.), “Nematode Behaviour”, CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon, UK , pp. 309-343

Neher, D. A., J. Wu, M.E. Barbercheck and O. Anas. 2005. Ecosystem type affects interpretation of soil nematode community measures. Applied Soil Ecology 30: 47-64.

Eaton, R. J., Barbercheck, M., Buford, M., Smith, W. 2004. Effects of organic matter removal, soil compaction, and vegetation control on collembolan populations. Pedobiologia 48: 121-128.

Barbercheck, M.E., J. Wang, and C. Brownie. 2003. Adaptation of the entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema carpocapsae, to insect food plant. Biological Control 27: 81 – 94.

Neher, D., M. E. Barbercheck, S. El-Allaf & O. Anas. 2003. Effects of Disturbance on Decomposition of Cellulose and Lignin. Applied Soil Ecology 23:165-179.

Mueller, J. P. M. E. Barbercheck, M. Bell, C. Brownie, N. G. Creamer, A. Hitt, L. King, H.M. Linker, F.J. Louws, S. Marlow, M. Marra, C. W. Raczkowski, D. Susko, and M.G. Wagger. 2002. Development and implementation of a long-term agricultural studies: Challenges and opportunities. HortTechnology 12: 362-368.

Millar, L. C. and M. E. Barbercheck. 2002. Effects of tillage practices on entomopathogenic nematodes in a corn agroecosystem . Biological Control 25: 1-
11.

Hummel, R., J. F. Walgenbach, M. E. Barbercheck, G. G. Kennedy, G. D. Hoyt, and C. Arellano. 2002. Effects of production practices on soil-borne entomopathogens in western North Carolina vegetable systems. Environmental Entomol. 31: 84-91.

Millar, L. C. and M. E. Barbercheck. 2001. Interaction between endemic and introduced entomopathogenic nematodes in corn. Biological Control. 22: 235-245.

Costa, S., M. Barbercheck, & G.G. Kennedy . 2001. Mortality of Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) after sub-lethal stress with Bacillus thuringiensis and subsequent exposure to Beauveria bassiana. J. Invertebr. Pathol. 77: 173-179.

Wyer, M.B., M. E. Barbercheck, D. Cookmeyer, H. Ozturk, M. Wayne. 2001. Women in Science and Technology. Routledge, NY. 376 pp.

Costa, S., M. Barbercheck, & G.G. Kennedy . 2000. Sublethal acute and chronic exposure of Colorado Potato Beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) to the d- endotoxin of Bacillus thuringiensis . J. Econ. Entomol. 93: 680-689.