| Abstract: | The basis of modelling yield loss and population dynamics relations of potato cyst nematodes is that both are strongly density-dependent. Potato cyst nematodes (PCN; Globodera pallida and G. rostochiensis) are particularly suitable for analysing such relationships because they have only one generation per year, potato is their only field host, the juvenile nematodes within the egg are very durable (up to 20 years persistence), and they hatch mainly in response to specific chemicals exuded from host roots. Small populations increase the most, up to 50-fold, when a potato crop is grown. Multiplication rates decrease as the population density increases because damage decreases root system size and increases competition so that very large populations may actually be decreased when potatoes are grown. The newly formed eggs have a ‘half-life’ of c.two years when non-host, rotational crops are being grown. Control is achieved largely by the use of rotation, the application of nematicidal chemicals, and growing resistant cultivars. As rotations are shortened, so PCN populations will be increased, and crop damage becomes more likely. Thresholds for damage vary with both soil type (greatest on sandy soils) and potato cultivar. Cultivars differ in their tolerance of PCN damage depending on how vigorously they grow, on their root sensitivity to damage from the PCN juveniles which invade close to root tips, on cultivar resistance which decreases the parasitic effect by reducing the numbers of developing PCN females, and on various environmental factors such as the amounts of fertiliser applied. The dependence of the yield-loss relationship on population density, soil type and cultivar effects has been described in a simple equation and assessed using field-trial data. Effects on yield are described in proportion to the PCN-free yield but the addition of information on expected yield (in tonnes ha−1) in the absence of PCN renders this equation predictive. Nematicides are widely applied to infestations of potato cyst nematodes, both to prevent the crop from being damaged and to prevent population increase which could hazard the next potato crop in the rotation, but they are generally more effective at preventing the former than the latter. A complex equation has also been developed to model the population dynamics of PCN. This equation incorporates a factor for host-crop growth and tolerance (from the yield-loss equation) and also the effects of host resistance. This latter is particularly relevant to G. pallida, where all the resistance currently available is determined by minor genes and hence is ‘quantitative’ or ‘partial’. Effects of rotation and of nematicides can also be incorporated into this model. To provide a realistic prediction also requires accurate information on PCN population densities, species composition and distributions, and rates of PCN population decline between potato crops. |
