Université de Montréal
Ph.D. candidate
Supervisor: Jacques Brodeur
Annie-Ève Gagnon, Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada
Start: 2023-01-03

Project

Complexity at multiple scales: how do flower strips and crop plant structure affect predator-prey dynamics and biological control efficacy in field-grown lettuce?
My research is examining whether sweet alyssum strips can promote natural enemy diversity and abundance in commercial lettuce fields in Québec, and how this may promote aphid suppression. It is also examining how these flower strips affect ecological interactions among predators and their prey within the crop, including intraguild predation and apparent competition, and how lettuce plant architecture may also influence these interactions.

Keywords

conservation biological control, Integrated Pest Management, habitat manipulation, entomology, agriculture

Publications

1- New records of Leptopilina, Ganaspis, and Asobara species associated with Drosophila suzukii in North America, including detections of L. japonica and G. brasiliensis
Abram, Paul K., Audrey E. McPherson, Robert Kula, Tracy Hueppelsheuser, Jason Thiessen, Steve J. Perlman, Caitlin I. Curtis, Jessica L. Fraser, Jordan Tam, Juli Carrillo, Michael Gates, Sonja Scheffer, Matthew Lewis, Matthew Buffington
2020 Journal of Hymenoptera Research

2- Supplemental LED lighting improves plant growth without impeding biological control of aphids with parasitoids in a tri-trophic greenhouse system
Fraser, Jessica L., Paul K. Abram, Martine Dorais
2023 Journal of Pest Science