@article{puente_darnall_forkner_2011, title={Assessing Integrated Pest Management Adoption: Measurement Problems and Policy Implications}, volume={48}, ISSN={0364-152X 1432-1009}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00267-011-9737-x}, DOI={10.1007/s00267-011-9737-x}, abstractNote={For more than a decade, the U.S. government has promoted integrated pest management (IPM) to advance sustainable agriculture. However, the usefulness of this practice has been questioned because of lagging implementation. There are at least two plausible rationales for the slow implementation: (1) growers are not adopting IPM-for whatever reason-and (2) current assessment methods are inadequate at assessing IPM implementation. Our research addresses the second plausibility. We suggest that the traditional approach to measuring IPM implementation on its own fails to assess the distinct, biologically hierarchical components of IPM, and instead aggregates growers' management practices into an overall adoption score. Knowledge of these distinct components and the extent to which they are implemented can inform government officials as to how they should develop targeted assistance programs to encourage broader IPM use. We address these concerns by assessing the components of IPM adoption and comparing our method to the traditional approach alone. Our results indicate that there are four distinct components of adoption-weed, insect, general, and ecosystem management-and that growers implement the first two components significantly more often than the latter two. These findings suggest that using a more nuanced measure to assess IPM adoption that expands on the traditional approach, allows for a better understanding of the degree of IPM implementation.}, number={5}, journal={Environmental Management}, publisher={Springer Science and Business Media LLC}, author={Puente, Molly and Darnall, Nicole and Forkner, Rebecca E.}, year={2011}, month={Aug}, pages={1013–1023} }
 @article{magori_legros_puente_focks_scott_lloyd_gould_2009, title={Skeeter Buster: A Stochastic, Spatially Explicit Modeling Tool for Studying Aedes aegypti Population Replacement and Population Suppression Strategies}, volume={3}, ISSN={1935-2735}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000508}, DOI={10.1371/journal.pntd.0000508}, abstractNote={Background Dengue is the most important mosquito-borne viral disease affecting humans. The only prevention measure currently available is the control of its vectors, primarily Aedes aegypti. Recent advances in genetic engineering have opened the possibility for a new range of control strategies based on genetically modified mosquitoes. Assessing the potential efficacy of genetic (and conventional) strategies requires the availability of modeling tools that accurately describe the dynamics and genetics of Ae. aegypti populations. Methodology/Principal findings We describe in this paper a new modeling tool of Ae. aegypti population dynamics and genetics named Skeeter Buster. This model operates at the scale of individual water-filled containers for immature stages and individual properties (houses) for adults. The biology of cohorts of mosquitoes is modeled based on the algorithms used in the non-spatial Container Inhabiting Mosquitoes Simulation Model (CIMSiM). Additional features incorporated into Skeeter Buster include stochasticity, spatial structure and detailed population genetics. We observe that the stochastic modeling of individual containers in Skeeter Buster is associated with a strongly reduced temporal variation in stage-specific population densities. We show that heterogeneity in container composition of individual properties has a major impact on spatial heterogeneity in population density between properties. We detail how adult dispersal reduces this spatial heterogeneity. Finally, we present the predicted genetic structure of the population by calculating FST values and isolation by distance patterns, and examine the effects of adult dispersal and container movement between properties. Conclusions/Significance We demonstrate that the incorporated stochasticity and level of spatial detail have major impacts on the simulated population dynamics, which could potentially impact predictions in terms of control measures. The capacity to describe population genetics confers the ability to model the outcome of genetic control methods. Skeeter Buster is therefore an important tool to model Ae. aegypti populations and the outcome of vector control measures.}, number={9}, journal={PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases}, publisher={Public Library of Science (PLoS)}, author={Magori, Krisztian and Legros, Mathieu and Puente, Molly E. and Focks, Dana A. and Scott, Thomas W. and Lloyd, Alun L. and Gould, Fred}, editor={Kittayapong, PattamapornEditor}, year={2009}, month={Sep}, pages={e508} }
 @article{puente_magori_kennedy_gould_2008, title={Impact of Herbivore-induced Plant Volatiles on Parasitoid Foraging Success: A Spatial Simulation of the Cotesia rubecula, Pieris rapae, and Brassica oleracea System}, volume={34}, ISSN={0098-0331 1573-1561}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10886-008-9472-9}, DOI={10.1007/s10886-008-9472-9}, abstractNote={Many parasitoids are known to use herbivore-induced plant volatiles as cues to locate hosts. However, data are lacking on how much of an advantage a parasitoid can gain from following these plant cues and which factors can limit the value of these cues to the parasitoid. In this study, we simulate the Cotesia rubecula-Pieris rapae-Brassica oleracea system, and ask how many more hosts can a parasitoid attack in a single day of foraging by following plant signals versus randomly foraging. We vary herbivore density, plant response time, parasitoid flight distance, and available host stages to see under which conditions parasitoids benefit from herbivore-induced plant cues. In most of the parameter combinations studied, parasitoids that responded to cues attacked more hosts than those that foraged randomly. Parasitoids following plant cues attacked up to ten times more hosts when they were able to successfully attack herbivores older than first instar; however, if parasitoids were limited to first instar hosts, those following plant cues were at a disadvantage when plants took longer than a day to respond to herbivory. At low herbivore densities, only parasitoids with a larger foraging radius could take advantage of plant cues. Although preference for herbivore-induced volatiles was not always beneficial for a parasitoid, under the most likely natural conditions, the model predicts that C. rubecula gains fitness from following plant cues.}, number={7}, journal={Journal of Chemical Ecology}, publisher={Springer Science and Business Media LLC}, author={Puente, Molly and Magori, Krisztian and Kennedy, George G. and Gould, Fred}, year={2008}, month={Apr}, pages={959–970} }
 @article{puente_kennedy_gould_2008, title={The Impact of Herbivore-Induced Plant Volatiles on Parasitoid Foraging Success: A General Deterministic Model}, volume={34}, ISSN={0098-0331 1573-1561}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10886-008-9471-x}, DOI={10.1007/s10886-008-9471-x}, abstractNote={Parasitoids respond to volatiles that plants produce when injured by herbivores. A considerable body of literature addresses the chemical pathways of herbivore-induced volatile production. However, there is almost no theory or data on how timing of volatile release in relationship to host availability for parasitization impacts the utility of these cues to parasitoids and on the extent that this volatile release timing might increase or decrease the percent of herbivores that become parasitized. This kind of information is critical in judging the benefits that might accrue from a breeding program aimed at enhancing herbivore-responsive volatile production. We developed a general model to begin examining this issue by using available parameters from two tritrophic systems. The model uses herbivore oviposition, development, and mortality rates, linked to a range of plant volatile induction and cessation periods for calculating the proportion of plants in a field that are (1) not producing volatiles but occupied by suitable herbivore hosts, (2) producing volatiles and occupied by suitable herbivore hosts, (3) producing volatiles but not occupied by suitable herbivore hosts, and (4) not producing volatiles and not occupied by suitable herbivore hosts. The impact of the plant volatiles on parasitoid foraging success is then determined by comparing the expected number of hosts parasitized when the parasitoid focuses solely on the volatile-producing plants to when it forages randomly among all plants. Under some conditions, parasitoids can attack three times more herbivores if they focus on volatile-producing plants. However, when we simulate plants that take several days to cease volatile production after pupation or death of the herbivore, parasitization rate does not increase when parasitoids use volatiles as cues. The utility of the volatile cues is consistently greater when a smaller proportion of plants is occupied by herbivores, indicating that their usefulness may be reduced to zero in fields saturated with volatiles.}, number={7}, journal={Journal of Chemical Ecology}, publisher={Springer Science and Business Media LLC}, author={Puente, Molly E. and Kennedy, George G. and Gould, Fred}, year={2008}, month={Apr}, pages={945–958} }