Landscape pattern drives the process of insect dispersal. At very small scales, within a plant canopy for example, the spatial pattern of microclimates, food quality and exposure to natural enemies influence insect movement and their resulting vertical as well as horizontal distributions. Similarly, at the landscape scale used to describe agroecosystems, spatial patterns of host and non-host plants are a combination of the natural resources available, largely soil and water resources, patterns of land ownership, and the choices made by land owners of what to grow and where. Geographic information systems and remote sensing provide the tools needed for characterizing the pattern of landscape elements that can influence the flow of insect pests across the landscape. Characteristics of landscape pattern that can influence the flows of walking and flying insects over the landscape, and the ways they are measured, will be discussed. To link landscape pattern with pest management in a design context, spatially explicit simulation models are being developed and are gaining biological detail. Specifically, measurements of insect movement are required parameters in such models and examples of these measurements and their use in simulations will be discussed.
Keywords: Migration
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