D3285: Optimizing corn rootworm monitoring locations

Pest scouting and monitoring for insect pests is a critical component of IPM and the continued success of conventional insect mitigation programs. Such programs typically require significant money and manpower, so maximizing efficiency is an important objective. Existing monitoring methods are usually expensive and provide insufficient coverage, so there is a need for new technology to aid monitoring efforts.

Quantitatively assessing the value of a trap will enable the systematic evaluation of each existing trap for the network. This will also enable any potential new trapping efforts to be assessed before resources are expended. A "site score metric" is derived from proximity to closest traps and the potential for crop damage a site to provide this quantitative analysis. This scoring metric can be used to guide new monitoring efforts thereby improving the quality of data collection. Additionally, this could save costs by minimizing efforts at low scoring locations. Finally, we identified priority monitoring areas using a k nearest neighbor model which grouped similarly scoring sites together. This system simplified the identification of high priority sites for monitoring.