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Integrated Pest Management |
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Pest
Management at the Smithsonian is based
on a strategy called Integrated Pest Management or IPM. This
strategy is used because it provides the greatest chance for the
successful detection and management of pests regardless of the object
of concern. At the Smithsonian Institution, IPM programs have
been developed and are being implemented for the museums and facilities,
food service areas, rodent control, greenhouse plants, landscape
and interior plants. Each of these areas has different needs in
terms of monitoring, potential pest problems, and risks. These
programs are science based and ever-changing as new and improved
control options and information becomes available.
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What
is IPM? Integrated Pest Management
is a method of pest control that stresses monitoring to determine
the need for any control tactic. IPM is an alternative strategy
to more traditional pesticide-based pest control programs.
IPM utilizes data collected during periodic monitoring to evaluate
plant health, pest population levels, population demographics of
pests, the risk of outbreaks, the level of damage to a commodity,
structure, or object, or risk to human or animal health. IPM
is not the same as organic gardening, is not only the use of biological
methods of control, and is not a no-pesticide use policy. Through
an IPM program plants, collection objects, food service areas,
and facilities are monitored, pests and (potential or realized)
problems are identified, and when deemed necessary the most effective,
environmentally safe method of control is then implemented.
When it is determined that some form of intervention is necessary,
all alternative methods of control are considered including, but
not limited to, cultural, chemical, biological, and physical
control methods. The decision to use one method over another
is based on scientific data when available and on practical results
when necessary. |
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 What
is scouting? Scouting, or monitoring,
is the foundation of any IPM program. There are many different methods
that can be used during monitoring including visual observation,
passive and active trapping, baiting, pheromone trapping, or pitfall
trapping. Through monitoring, pests and problems are identified
and recorded. Monitoring allows data to be collected which
can later be utilized to determine thresholds based on risk to a
particular plant, to human health, or to an individual artifact.
The use of thresholds allows the scout to determine the need
for control methods. |
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 Tools
of the Trade IPM scouts often
rely on small magnifying lenses to identify pests. Mechanical traps
are used to capture rodents. Sticky cards, glue boards, pheromone
traps, and light traps are used to monitor pests that are small,
fast moving, or difficult to find. Another essential tool is the
flashlight which is used for indoor monitoring to find pests that
hide in inaccessible areas such as dark cracks and crevices. Vials
of alcohol and tweezers are utilized to collect and preserve
specimens. These smaller specimens may need to be identified
under a microscope. Diseases or insects that require expert
identification are sampled and sent out to local universities or
SI Museums for positive identification. Collecting and properly
identifying pests are critical parts of any IPM program.
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- to promote plant health or a
health environment free of harmful pests
- to use environmentally safe products
when intervention is needed
- to reduces the use of toxic,
residual pesticides
- to save money through reduced
pesticide use
to increase public and staff safety
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Contractors
and SI staff There are more
people involved in IPM at the Smithsonian than just Horticulture
Services Division (HSD) staff. Contract staff also provide museum
collection, food service, and facility IPM services under the guidance
of the HSD staff. Smithsonian staff and contract IPM specialists
work together to inspect facilities and food service areas of SI
for pests and make recommendations and implement control strategies
as needed. Staff from other areas of the Smithsonian including curators,
facility managers, librarians, archivists, food service contractors,
masons, and carpenters are critical to the success of the IPM program.
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Environment
IPM benefits the environment. After scouting an area and deciding
that action needs to be taken, IPM staff consider many alternatives.
One of the main goals of IPM is to use the most effective and environmentally
safe method of pest control. IPM staff at SI often release predatory
insects to lower pest populations rather than spraying pesticides
that could potentially be disruptive to the environment. The
Landscape IPM program at the SI led to decreases of up to 60% in
residual pesticide use in its first two years. |
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Exteriors
From curb to curb, the exterior landscapes
surrounding Smithsonian facilities on the National Mall are under
the care of HSD. This encompasses all of the outdoor gardens,
landscape plants, and even the turf and trees that surround them.
The plants are monitored for diseases, pests, general thrift,
and stresses due to environmental influences such as drought and
construction.
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 Greenhouses
All of the plants seen in Smithsonian exhibits come from the Horticulture
Services Division's greenhouses. In the greenhouses, rare and exotic
tropical plants as well as common varieties are grown, acclimated,
and prepared for display throughout the SI. These plants are
monitored weekly by Greenhouse Nursery Branch and IPM staff for
greenhouse pests and diseases, soil pH and soluble salt levels,
and overall health. The need for treatment and course of treatment
is then determined following each monitoring session.
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 Interiors
The interior plant program includes tropical plants and orchids
displayed inside SI buildings. Once a display is established, the
plants need to be monitored for pests and for the effects of the
stressful interior environment such as poor lighting, lack of humidity,
poor soil moisture and general stress from constant visitor contact.
Plants are monitored several times each week by the interior plant
staff during their regular maintenance of the plants; specific pest
problems are brought to the attention of the IPM staff. Identified
pest problems are managed through the safest means available.
Often the problems are not controlled on site, but are returned
to the greenhouses for management under more restricted conditions.
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Plant
selection Thousands of plants are
used every year in SI displays. Many of these plants are ordered
from growers and nurseries. An important way to reduce pests on
the plants at the Smithsonian is to monitor these plants before
they enter displays. Insect pests can easily be brought in on foreign
plants and introduced onto established plants. Major increases in
pest populations can be decreased by simply examining plants before
they are exhibited. |
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Research
The IPM staff initiate and implement research projects to promote
the advancement of IPM. Experiments evaluating predatory mites
and newer and safer pesticides and the use of predatory beetles
against scale insects, are just a few of the ongoing experiments
conducted by IPM staff. |
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Sanitation
Keeping things clean is an important part of IPM at the Smithsonian.
Pruning old tree branches and removing leaf litter from flower beds
reduces the areas where insects can over winter. Cleaning up trash
and food on the grounds reduces resources available to rats that
live in the District of Columbia. Thoroughly mopping
floors in dining areas leaves less food for mice and cockroaches
that may have found their way into buildings. Everyone can do their
part to reduce pest populations at the Smithsonian.
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Urban
Interior and exterior structural pests such as cockroaches, rats,
fruit flies, drain flies, and mice are some of the pests observed
in urban IPM. Silverfish, booklice, beetles, mold, and mildew
are problems that IPM scouts watch for in the Smithsonian collections.
Scouts in urban IPM also monitor the food service facilities, storage
facilities, and other areas of possible pest infestation inside
for SI buildings. |
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