This study aimed to isolate and characterize a native strain of Beauveria bassiana, coded as Bv065, showcasing its potential as a biological control agent targeting the palm weevil Dynamis borassi. Originating from a naturally infected D. borassi specimen collected in southwestern Colombia, the fungus underwent molecular identification and was identified as B. bassiana, exhibiting high sequence similarity with known reference strains. The physiological characterization revealed that Bv065 thrived within a temperature range of 25 to 30 °C and a pH range of 6 to 9. Moreover, the key carbon sources that allow optimal growth of the strain were identified through metabolic profiling, including sucrose, D-mannose, and γ-amino-butyric acid. These findings offer strategic insights for scalability and formulation methodologies. Additionally, enzymatic analyses unveiled robust protease activity within Bv065, crucial for catalysing insect cuticle degradation and facilitating host penetration, thus accentuating its entomopathogenic potential. Subsequent evaluations exposed Bv065\'s pathogenicity against D. borassi, causing significant mortality within nine days of exposure, albeit exhibiting limited effectiveness against Rhynchophorus palmarum. This study underscores the importance of understanding optimal growth conditions and metabolic preferences of B. bassiana strains for developing effective biopesticides. The findings suggest Bv065 as a promising candidate for integrated pest management strategies in neotropical regions, particularly for controlling palm weevil infestations in coconut and peach palm cultivation. Future research avenues include refining mass production methodologies, formulating novel delivery systems, and conducting comprehensive field efficacy trials to unlock the full potential of Bv065 in fostering sustainable pest management practices. Overall, this study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on entomopathogenic fungi and their pivotal role in biological control, offering nuanced perspectives on eco-friendly alternatives to conventional insecticidal interventions.

The relationship between agriculture and wildlife can be both synergetic and challenging, as the increased surface of agricultural land makes it increasingly important for agriculture and wildlife to coexist. This study aims to describe the use of freshly drilled dry bean fields by birds and mammals in Brazilian Cerrado and Atlantic Forest sites and their diversity and abundance within in-crop and off-crop areas (with native permanent vegetation and other surrounding crop fields) at four different farms. A comprehensive survey was conducted, using various sampling methods, including point counts, foraging counts, trail cameras, and occasional encounters. In all, contacts for 12 518 birds across 306 species and 313 mammals across 34 species were registered. The off-crop areas exhibited greater species richness, abundance, and diversity than the in-crop areas on all farms. For birds, 47 species were recorded in-crop, of which 15 were classified as insectivores, 15 as granivores, seven as omnivores, seven as carnivores, and three as frugivores. The number of in-crop observations per species was small. The abundance off-crop was greater for 31 species observed in-crop, indicating that dry bean fields are probably not a preferred habitat for those species. Species classified as granivorous are most likely to feed on dry bean seeds. However, almost all granivorous species observed in-crop areas are too small to be able to feed on dry bean seeds. For mammals, nine species were recorded in-crop, of which four were classified as carnivores, three as omnivores, one as insectivore, and one as granivore. Additionally, despite the considerable effort in this study, no evidence was found that birds and mammals feed on dry bean seeds. The results highlight the importance of off-crop areas in dry bean fields, characterized by a more diverse and abundant bird community than in-crop. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:864-874. © 2023 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Estimating exposure is one of the most important steps in an environmental risk analysis of crop-protection products to nontarget organisms. Regulatory agencies such as the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) all use mathematical exposure models in their regulatory assessment process. Brazil has been discussing the adoption of the Pesticide in Water Calculator (PWC) to be applied in aquatic pesticide risk assessment. Therefore, a qualitative sensitivity analysis (Morris OAT method) was performed to understand which are the most important local parameters in the PWC to estimate environmental concentrations in surface water (EECSW ). In addition, an exercise made up of two corn scenarios in two Brazilian regions was developed (Uberlândia [UDI] and Arapoti [ARA]). Two herbicides with different soil-binding properties and modes of action were selected to estimate the EECSW . The results demonstrated that the parameters of importance were different for each site, probably the result of different soil characteristics and meteorological patterns. This outcome suggests that regulatory agencies should consider developing more than one scenario to account for different agricultural regions. For Herbicide 1, the EECSW for UDI were similar to US scenarios, whereas for ARA they were lower. For Herbicide 2, the EECSW for the UDI site was higher than most of the US scenarios, whereas at the ARA site, EECs were similar to four US scenarios and lower than the other six. Local data were used as a refinement, resulting in the decrease in the EECSW for both herbicides in the UDI site. For the ARA site, Herbicide 1 displayed a similar EECSW value, whereas for Herbicide 2, it was lower after the refinement. Overall, these results demonstrated the importance of developing local scenarios to provide more realism to estimate pesticide exposure from its agricultural use and may help regulators to determine and recommend mitigations regarding the use of crop-protection products. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;19:1374-1384. © 2023 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).