A location aware system for integrated management of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus in urban systems

The red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), an invasive species for many countries, is one of the most dangerous pests of ornamental palms in urban landscapes. When infested by the RPW, all untreated palms typically die. RPW monitoring is difficult, and when the pest is detected, management to save the infested palm becomes intricate. For this reason, an efficient and integrated RPW monitoring, such as a location-aware system (LAS), combined with the scientific knowledge of experts on the palm's physiology and the RPW biological cycle must be designed, developed and implemented. In the current study, an innovative integrated RPW management in urban landscapes under real conditions is presented. Based on the LAS, this study investigates the effectiveness of monitoring RPW infestations in palms, such as the Phoenix canariensis, under field conditions at the Pedion Areos park, which is located in central Athens, the capital of the Hellenic Republic. The goal of this study is to address the specific needs of RPW management and control by facilitating the treatment process adopted by experts combined with an appropriate spatial decision support system (SDSS), which accounts for the RPW population dynamics and spatio-temporal characteristics of the infested areas. The process of estimating the infestation risk is based on a ten-point scale classification, which is incorporated into the LAS. The results from the aforementioned moderate-scaled field experiment conducted for evaluation purposes showed that the LAS is an innovative, simple, and easy to use integrated platform that can be used for early detection, rapid monitoring and assessment of RPW in urban landscapes. Finally, the results from this four-year experiment showed that the diameter and height of the trunk of canary palms play a significant role in the susceptibility to RPW infestations and the recovery of infested canary palms; the results also demonstrated that control of RPW in urban landscapes is possible.