Duke University
OP-9: Integrated Pest Management

All Duke University Grounds staff in supervisory roles have their North Carolina Pest Management Association licenses. Furthermore, there is a certified Arborist on staff. These numbers suggest that Duke University Grounds staff is dedicated to using the most sustainable practices. All of the grounds are monitored and tended to in a way to support the health of the plants. Planting techniques, compost, and native species are all used to deter pests. In general, the plants on campus have a high threshold for insects, and sprays are only used as a last resort in a highly targeted and controlled manner. The acreage that requires more rigorous pest management are the 20 acres of athletic fields. The entire 55 acre Duke Gardens and horticultural facilities are managed with IPM strategies (https://gardens.duke.edu/). The threshold for pest and disease is relatively high depending on the location in the garden and type of pest. The goal is to eventually manage the garden organically. The hybrid tea rose collection (which requires weekly spraying of fungicide) is being replaced with roses that require no spraying or other chemical treatment to keep them healthy, all the garden’s green/woody waste will soon be composted and or mulched and reused in the garden. The new Charlotte Brody Discovery Garden within Duke Gardens has been awarded 2 stars under the Sustainable SITES Initiative (SITES), a new sustainable landscaping certification program. The Discovery Garden is only 1 of 15 projects that has received SITES certification nationwide. In order to achieve SITES certification, Duke Gardens staff, who maintain the Discovery Garden, have to follow a set of stringent and comprehensive integrated pest management guidelines. The Discovery Garden, therefore, is an exemplary garden that showcases both comprehensive integrated pest management practices and sustainable landscaping. The 7,025 acres of land in the Duke Forest is also managed with an IPM plan (http://www.dukeforest.duke.edu/). Control measures are employed when they are judged to be economically and environmentally advisable. These methods include, but are not limited to: removal of mature timber, maintenance of adequate spacing, proper matching of species and sites, shortening the rotation for certain species on high hazard sites, use of genetically improved planting stock, and use of fungicides and insecticides if necessary. Because of the Forest’s commitment to research, demonstration and study plots illustrating insect and disease problems may be created by allowing certain pest conditions to remain unchecked. The deliberate allowance of such conditions is to be closely monitored in order to ensure the prompt implementation of control measures if necessary.