Nabil Michel NemerHoly Spirit University of Kaslik · Department of Agriculture and Food Engineering
Nabil Michel Nemer
Ph.D in Entomology
Director of The Higher Center for Research and Associate Dean of Doctoral Studies for Science and Technology
About
88
Publications
35,988
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
704
Citations
Introduction
Working on the taxonomy, ecology and evolution of insects and entomopathogens, biological control of insect pests, sustainable agriculture and rural development and management.
Additional affiliations
February 2011 - present
September 2004 - December 2007
Education
September 2003 - September 2008
Publications
Publications (88)
The cedar shoot moth, Dichelia cedricola Diakonoff, is considered as an important defoliator of the Lebanese cedars, Cedrus libani in Lebanon and Turkey. A recent outbreak revealed the need for a new tool to monitor the population within an integrated forest health management approach. To achieve this objective, a sex pheromone was identified by us...
Cedars of Lebanon Cedrus libani have been attacked since 1990s by a hymenopteran sawfly, Cephalcia tannourinensis (Chevin), causing considerable damage to the foliar buds. A biological control program using entomopathogenic nematodes-EPNs was conducted in vitro against C. tannourinensis prenymphs. Two EPN strains belonging to the same species Heter...
Because of its peculiar biology, its negative impacts on forestry, and its urticating larvae affecting human and animal health, pine processionary moth has largely been studied in many European countries during the last century. However, knowledge remained scattered and no synthesis has ever been published. Moreover, the predictions sometimes appea...
In recent decades, the recognition of the importance of preserving biodiversity and ecosystem services has led to the establishment of extensive protected areas networks to conserve these resources. Protected Areas (PAs) and Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) are essential components of conservation efforts, playing critical r...
Despite the prerequisite tools of sustainability, there is an arising need to particularly assess landscape sustainability (LS). In this regard, no quantitative approach was identified, neither locally nor internationally. The main objective of this current study is to design a new set of Landscape Indicators (LIs) and a new scheme of LS assessment...
Beauveria bassiana , a necrotrophic fungus thriving in diverse ecosystems, predominantly on arthropods, holds significant importance as a biological agent. The escalating relevance of genetic studies on fungi necessitates the development of efficient and robust DNA extraction techniques to ensure the acquisition of high-quality DNA. B. bassiana was...
Wild bees are facing many environmental challenges that are reshaping their distributions and even causing extinctions. One of the common threats is climate change leading to a higher frequency of extreme climatic events such as heat waves. We focused on the bee fauna of the eastern Mediterranean country of Lebanon and assessed intra- and interspec...
Drug discovery was initially attributed to coincidence or experimental research. Historically, the traditional approaches were complex, lengthy, and expensive, entailing costly random screening of synthesized compounds or natural products coupled with in vivo validation largely depending on the availability of appropriate animal models. Currently,...
The sweet potato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is a polyphagous insect invading hundreds of crops worldwide. Its management is becoming more and more challenging due to the increasing resistance to chemical insecticides. This work aims to compare the sensitivity of the Bemisia tabaci B biotype on eggplant leaves to the insecticides pyrifluqu...
In the absence of a holistic view of landscape sustainability, credible data and consistent information are needed to help decision-making and support adaptive landscape management. This course of events highlights a strong need for a tool (system of standards and controls) that can be used by multiple stakeholders (such as NGOs, public authorities...
In the absence of a holistic view of Landscape Sustainability, credible data and consistent information are needed to help decision making and support adaptive management. However, consolidated tools (system of standards and controls) of assessment exist, but show a complexity of the references on one hand, and are mostly qualitative and environmen...
The sweet potato whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is one of the most destructive widespread polyphagous insects attacking more than 900 plant species. This research aims to compare the effects of pyrifluquinazon and cyantraniliprole insecticides against whiteflies under greenhouse conditions and study their impacts on the yield of eggplants. Two...
Extraction of phenolic compounds and betalains from plant matrices represent a real challenge to researchers due to the complexity and diversity of bioactive compounds. In this study we used the response surface methodology to address the effect of three important extraction factors; Temperature, time and solvent content on extraction yield from th...
Background
Scientists are still battling severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic so human lives can be saved worldwide. Secondary fungal metabolites are of intense interest due to their broad range of pharmaceutical properties. Beauvericin (BEA) is a secondary...
The cedar forests of Lebanon have been threatened by the outbreak caused by climate change of a web-spinning sawfly, Cephalcia tannourinensis (Hymenoptera: Pamphiliidae), which negatively impacted the survival of one of the oldest tree species on earth. In this study, we investigated the occurrence of naturally soil-inhabiting entomopathogenic fung...
Beekeeping and honey production have been of great historical, economic, and health interest in Lebanon. However, the Lebanese beekeeping sector is poorly documented, not to mention the challenging natural and economical threats the beekeepers face which result in a decrease in honey production. In order to inform needed outreach and education acti...
Mediterranean stone pine nut is appreciated for its high economic and nutritional value. Starting in 2012, Pinus pinea nut production declined throughout the Mediterranean area. The dry cone syndrome associated with this decline and the introduction of Leptoglossus occidentalis occurred simultaneously. This study aims to evaluate potential reasons...
The entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana has been successfully used for the control of phytopathogenic arthropods and there are a growing number of studies suggesting that this kind of fungus could also be used for the control of ectoparasites in mammals. This study evaluated for the first time the efficacy of different Beauveria strains agai...
Purpose
most (landfills in or water the in discarded is sludge local Lebanese the of Most. agriculture in reusage potential
application the of effect the assess to was research this of objective The). functional partially are plants wastewater
.fertilizer chemical of alternative an as production wheat the on rates sludge sewage different of
wheat h...
The challenges faced by traditional agriculture led to the development of alternative agricultural systems such as soilless systems. The
aim of this work was to assess the growth and yield components of kale under three soilless growing systems: Nutrient film technique
set up vertically (T-vertical); Nutrient film technique set up horizontally (T-h...
Drug discovery has been initially attributed to coincidence or trial and error where the traditional approach was complex, lengthy, and expensive. Conventional drug discovery methods require the costly random screening of synthesized compounds or natural products. Another downside for this approach is the wide dependency on the experimental use of...
The study of wild bees has markedly increased in recent years due to their importance as pollinators of crops and wild
plants, and this interest has been accentuated by increasing evidence of global declines in their abundance and species
richness. Though best studied in Europe and North America, knowledge on the current state of wild bees is scarc...
Purpose
Management of sewage sludge generated from wastewater treatment plants is a big challenge for its potential reusage in agriculture. Most of the Lebanese local sludge is discarded in the water or in landfills (most wastewater plants are partially functional). The objective of this research was to assess the effect of the application of diff...
Multi-drug resistance is posing major challenges in suppressing the population of pests. Many herbivores develop resistance, causing a prolonged survival after exposure to a previously effective pesticide. Consequently, resistant pests reduce the yield of agricultural production, causing significant economic losses and reducing food security. There...
Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is a cosmopolitan insect pest of several crops worldwide. It has the ability of transmitting plant viruses, damaging, and developing resistance to pesticides. The aim of this work is to determine the efficacy of new chemical pesticides in comparison to current ones. Five selected insecticides, spiromesifen, pyrifluquinazo...
Résumé. – De nouvelles recherches menées essentiellement en 2015 et 2016 ont permis de découvrir 31 espèces de Coléoptères Cerambycidae, la plupart dans la Réserve naturelle de la forêt des Cèdres de Tannourine et dont deux sont nouvelles pour le Liban. Le nouveau bilan de l’inventaire national libanais s’élève à 136 espèces.
Summary. –New research...
The effects of entomopathogenic nematodes EPN (Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae) and fungi EPF (Beauveria bassiana) strains were evaluated in laboratory assays against larvae of four xylophagous pests: the Asparagus moth Parahypopta caestrum, the European goat moth Cossus cossus, the pine longhorn Arhopalus syriacus and the black Buprestid Ca...
Pinus pinea is a species of great economic and ecological importance in Lebanon, but there is a lack of knowledge about the distribution of the pine forests, their vegetation dynamics and regeneration. Our study aims to produce the first classification of the pine stands according to their floristic composition and the abiotic factors of the Mount...
West Palearctic bumblebees are common wildflowers and crop pollinators that are well studied in their central and northern distribution ranges, but fewer information is available on their southern distribution areas. Lebanon falls on the southern limit of their distribution and no published information is available on the local bumblebees. Our stud...
Background: Scabies is a frequent cutaneous infection caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei in a large number of mammals including humans. As the resistance of S. scabiei against several chemical acaricides has been previously documented, the establishment of alternative and effective control molecules is required.
Objectives: In this study, the pot...
The virulence of aerial conidia of the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo-Crivelli) Vuillemin (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae) has been documented on a very broad range of arthropods; however, the activity of blastospores against the two-spotted spider mite has been seldomly reported. Moreover, studies investigating the activity of bl...
Pinus pinea is an important species for ecological and economic reasons in the Mediterranean area and especially in Lebanon. However, conditions of its natural regeneration have received little attention. Our study aimed to test the influence of soil disturbances, predation and autotoxicity on pine regeneration. A seed sowing field experiment was c...
The effects of entomopathogenic nematodes (Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae) and fungi strains (Beauveria bassiana) were evaluated in laboratory assays against larvae of four xylophagous pests: the Asparagus moth Parahypopta caestrum, the European goat moth Cossus cossus, the pine longhorn Arhopalus syriacus and the black Buprestid Capnodis t...
First records of four longhorn beetles to the fauna of Lebanon with list of the species collected by the members of the Hungarian Natural History Museum and cooperating partners in Lebanon between 2015 and 2018. With 42 figures.
First records of 93 species of fungus weevils (Anthribidae), leaf rolling weevils (Attelabidae), seed weevils (Brentidae: Apioninae) and true weevils (Curculionidae) to the fauna of Lebanon are reported with the list of the 145 species of Curculionoidea collected by the Hungarian Natural History Museum and cooperating partners in Lebanon between 20...
Five species of Scolytinae new to Lebanon were recorded on Pinus pinea: Hylurgus ligniperda (Fabricius), Hylurgus micklitzi Wachtl, Hylastes angustatus (Herbst), Hylastes attenuates Erichson, Carphoborus pini Eichhoff. Their ecology, distribution and potential phytosanitary risk are discussed in the context of stone pine conservation.
PurposeMunicipal sewage sludge generated from three operational wastewater treatment plants, located in the Bekaa valley of Lebanon, was assessed for its potential use as agricultural soil amendment.Methods
Sludge samples were taken from three treatment plants located in the villages of Iaat, Ablah and Joub Jannine during the summer season of 2018,...
Background
Scabies is a frequent cutaneous infection caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei in a large number of mammals including humans. As the resistance of S. scabiei against several chemical acaricides has been previously documented, the establishment of alternative and effective control molecules is required.
Objectives
In this study, the pote...
The western conifer seed bug, Leptoglossus occidentalis, is an alien invasive species of North American origin. Leptoglossus occidentalis was recorded for the first time in Arsoun-Metn, Lebanon in 2015. Adults and nymphs of L. occidentalis were collected by the authors from various locations in Lebanon and observed on two species of pine, Pinus pin...
The entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin is known to produce a broad range of secondary metabolites. Beauvericin, a cyclic hexadepsipeptide, is the best known mycotoxin produced by B. bassiana; however, reports discussing the insecticidal activity of beauvericin per se are limited. In this study, we assessed the lethal acti...
The Lebanese web spinning cedar sawfly, Cephalcia tannourinensis (Chevin), is the main cedars defoliator in Lebanon. The study is to determine the effectiveness, competition and the host finding ability of two indigenous entomopathogens; a fungi Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) and a nematode Steinernema feltiae (Filipjev) under laboratory conditions....
The entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana is used as a natural pest killer in many agricultural systems due to its power of overcoming the host immune system. This is partially due to its genome content that expresses key proteins involved in its virulence. In this study, we used Real-Time PCR technique to analyze the relative expression at 48...
Bark beetles (Coleoptera Curculionidae Scolytinae) associated with Pinus pinea in Lebanon: new records with remarks on their ecology, distribution and potential threat for forest stands. Five species of Scolytinae new to Lebanon were recorded on Pinus pinea: Hylurgus ligniperda (Fabricius), Hylurgus micklitzi Wachtl, Hylastes angustatus (Herbst), H...
Wild bees play an important role in ecosystems as pollinators of native plants (Tuell et al, 2008). In Lebanon, there are no recent studies on the wild bee fauna to our knowledge. The only published findings are that of Mavromoustakis (1952, 1956) that were regrouped by Grace (2010). The topography of Lebanon with two mountain chains create a range...
In developing countries, food losses occur mainly during the production, harvest, postharvest and processing phases. Because of the lack of awareness in the apple postharvest practices in Lebanon, this study was carried out to check the effect of good harvesting and handling practices, pre-storage sorting, and dipping in calcium and fungicide, on t...
Seven strains of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) belonging to three species (Steinernema feltiae, S. ichnusae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora) naturally isolated from Mediterranean countries (Southern Italy and Lebanon) were evaluated for their potential to infest greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella) larvae at different temperatures under lab...
Tannourine cedars forest, dominated by cedars (Cedrus libani, Richard), suffers from native sawfly attacks, Cephalcia tannourinensis (Chevin). The current study assesses the presence of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) endemic to the forest for their potential use as biocontrol agents in an integrated pest management to control C. tannourinensis....
Essential oil of fresh aerial parts of Achillea fragrantissima growing wild in Lebanese steppe was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed using Gas Chromatography and GC/Mass spectrometry. Antimicrobial activityof the essential oil against 5 bacteria and 2 fungi was determined by diffusion and microdilution methods. The results revealed a yield...
Essential oil (E.O.) of Artemisia herba-alba Asso. (Asteraceae) known as Shih, growing wild in Hermel (Lebanon) was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC and GC-Mass spectrometry (MS). The results were α-Pinene (45.89%) followed by Borneol (11.3%), 1,8-Cineole (10.8%), Terpineol (6.45%), Camphene (3.94%), γ-Terpinene (3.2%), α-Terpinene...
Farah Baroudy, Elvis Gerges, Lucia Hanna, Hana Sobh, Nabil Nemer and Yusuf Abou-Jawdah. 2018. Efficacy of a Lebanese isolate of Beauveria sp. for the biocontrol of Bemisia tabaci. Lebanese Science Journal, 19(1): 74-84. The sweetpotato/cotton whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is a major pest of several crops worldwide. In addition to the direct...
The analysis of forest structure is a useful tool to understand stand biodiversity characterizing forest ecosystems, and could help in suggesting appropriate management plans. Cedar forests in Lebanon are remnant patches that survived past human activities but are still threatened by other different anthro-pogenic and natural disturbances. Among th...
Olive tree is considered one of the most important cultivated crops in Lebanon. The cultivated area is mainly concentrated in the north and south Lebanon. Among the obstacles affecting olive cultivation is the olive fruit fly infestation which negatively alters the quality of olive oil. Olive fruit fly (Bactrocera oleae) is mainly controlled by che...
These guidelines have been developed as collaboration of international experts from Spain with FAO, MoA and national experts. They are based on widely accepted principles for sustainable forest management and include measures and recommendations to enhance resilience of the Pinus pinea forest ecosystems in Lebanon towards climatic stress and pests....
Entomopathogenic nematodes belonging to the S. feltiae specie were found in Tannourine cedar forest. In vitro experiments showed a lower pathogenicity of the S. feltiae specie against C. tannourinensis larvae than H. bacteriophora specie when compared to previous published results (Noujeim et al., 2015). In vivo experiments showed promising results...
Prangos species have been commonly used in traditional medicine in East Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries. The hydrodistilled essential oils by HDC from different fresh aerial parts (stems and leaves, flowers and fruits) of Prangos asperula Boiss., growing wild in Lebanon were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Forty two, 46...
Abstract. – New data and new catalogue of the Coleoptera Cerambycidae of Lebanon (Coleoptera, Cerambycoidea). Faunistical prospectings and bibliographical researches gives several interesting or new information justifying a new list of Cerambycidae species from Lebanon. Our work rises to 125 the number of species known from this country; Mesoprion...
Essential oils of the flowers and fruits of Achillea kotschyi Boiss. subsp. kotschyi (Asteraceae) growing wild in Lebanon were, for the first time, screened for their antimicrobial inhibitory activity. The composition of the essential oils was analyzed by GC and GC-MS; 37 compounds and 14 compounds representing 68.3%, and 95.5% of total oils, were...
Located at the crossroad of three continents, in a complex context of topography, biogeography, geology and historic human settlements particular to the Mediterranean basin, Lebanon hosts very particular forests representing a unique feature in the arid environment of the Eastern Mediterranean. North Lebanon embraces several types of forest stands...
Elise Noujeim, Joe Sakr, Diana El Sayegh and Nabil Nemer. 2015. In vitro susceptibility of the pea leafminer Liriomyza huidobrensis pupae to entomopathogenic Heterorhabditis indica and Beauveria bassiana. Lebanese Science Journal, 16(2): 19-26. Given the substantial economic losses associated with various aspects of Liriomyza huidobrensis Blanchard...
La partie est intégrée dans le Chapter 2: Natural history of the Processionary Moths (Thaumetopoea spp.): New insights in relation to climate change
The cedar web-spinning sawfly, Cephalcia tannourinensis (Hymenoptera: Pamphiliidae) is considered a
major defoliator of the cedar forests in Lebanon. In the early 1990’s, a severe damage of the Tannourine
Hadath El-Jebbeh cedar forest was caused by the sudden outbreak of this insect. The insect has a
complex life cycle with two types of diapause: a...
Liriomyza huidobrensis Blanchard , the pea leafminer, started to be threaten for vegetable products
in Lebanon since the beginning of 1990s . Due to the wide range of insecticide resistance, the
control of L. huidobrensis by chemicals remains a great challenge and it is important, therefore, to
find a friendly environmental control programme agains...
Abstract
The pine processionary moth, Thaumetopoea wilkinsoni, is the most damaging pest of pine trees in Lebanon and other countries of the Mediterranean region. It spreads in Lebanon on Pinus halepensis, P. brutia and P. canariensis. The study assesses the importance of egg parasitoids of the pine processionery moth. The egg masses collected from...
Entomopathogenic nematodes are soil organisms, adapted to most climatic conditions in hot, temperate, and cold zones, distributed from lowlands to high alpine altitudes (Steiner, 1996). During a previous survey of entomopathogenic nematodes-EPNs in Lebanon (Noujeim Abi Nader et al., in review), 3 out of 19 sites were estimated positive in EPNs. The...
Larvae of the cedar web-spinning sawfly, Cephalcia tannourinensis Chevin (Hymenoptera: Pamphiliidae), infected with a white fungus were collected from the Tannourine-Hadath El-Jebbeh cedar
forest. Macro- and micro-morphological data based on the examination of colonies, conidiophores, and conidial shape of the
fungus suggested a Beauveria species....
The effect of climate change on forests varies with the geographical zone and climatic conditions of countries and regions. While climatic records for the Western Mediterranean show slight trends towards warmer and drier conditions over the last century, parts of the Eastern Mediterranean have experienced cooler and wetter conditions. Mediterranean...