2007 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416) The purpose of this agreement is to contribute to a scientific information framework for managing insect resistance to transgenic plants by evaluating and integrating insect resistance management models. This information can provide enhanced support to the concerned public in its deliberations about the use of transgenic plants. 1b.Approach (from AD-416) Currently there are a number of different models of insecticide resistance to Bt crops. These models run the range from simple deterministic analytic models to complex stochastic simulation models. Some models incorporate space, others do not. All of the models capture important dynamics, but sorting through the complex intricacies of these models is vitally important for the management of Bt resistance. This effort will bring together modelers working in the area of insect resistance to assist stakeholders in sorting out the implications of insect resistance management (IRM) models. Furthermore, it will identify important data needs for protection of transgenic crops and will assist in the development of modeling efforts that will benefit the science of resistance management in general and Bt resistance in particular. 3.Progress Report This report serves to document research conducted under a Specific Cooperative Agreement between ARS and the University of Arizona to conduct research related to an Interagency Agreement (60-3625-4-0574) with the Environmental Protection Agency (National Risk Management Research Lab, Cincinnati, OH) and USDA-ARS. Additional details of research can be found in the report for the parent CRIS #3625-22000-016-00D, Ecologically-Based Management of Insect Pests of Corn. The purpose of this agreement is to contribute to a scientific information framework for managing insect resistance to transgenic crops. The summary has been communicated through model coordinators. A graduate student of the collaborator developed a spatially explicit model of the cotton ecosystems in Arizona infected by the pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella. The modeling group chose this model as one of the three models for initial evaluation in part because it represents the unique ecosystem of the desert southwest. Experimental conditions of this model were duplicated in a landscape model developed by the modeling coordinator relying on the principle of experimental repeatability. Various factors examined in this model were incorporated into the new spatially explicit model and evaluated for biological importance. Publications: Sisterson, M.S. and B. E. Tabashnik. 2005. Simulated effects of transgenic Bt crops on specialist parasitoids of target pests. Environ. Entomol. 34(4):733-742. Sisterson, M.S., L. Antilla, Y. Carrière, C. Ellers-Kirk and B. E. Tabashnik. 2004. Effects of insect population size on evolution of resistance to transgenic crops. J. Econ. Entomol. 97(4):1413-1424. Sisterson, M.S., Y. Carrière, T. J. Dennehy and B. E. Tabashnik. 2005. Evolution of resistance to transgenic crops: interactions between insect movement and field distribution. J. Econ. Entomol. 98(6):1751-1762. Project Monitoring This modeling project is monitored with frequent conference calls and numerous emails with modeling project coordinators and the EPA collaborator. Conference call dates: August 18, 2006 November 1, 2006 April 10, 2007 May 9, 2007 July 11, 2007 July 19, 2007