Enhancing Biological Control


Book Description

Over the past ten years an increasing number of field entomologists and farmers have recognized that conservation of natural enemies is important to effective biological control in many agricultural systems. This collection addresses an important gap in the biological control literature by providing the first comprehensive summary of recent findings on habitat manipulation to control pests. Enhancing Biological Control includes contributions from experts around the world: the United States, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, People's Republic of China, and Switzerland. Chapters cover habitat modification in such areas as fields, orchards, or vineyards, and along or near the perimeters of fields, including hedges or other uncultivated areas. Generalist and specialist natural enemies are described in full, as are theoretical and practical issues. Experimental designs for studying enhancement come into play, and the editors include a modeling study that explores how the dispersal of natural enemies interacts with the positioning of refuges. This volume is an invaluable source of information to researchers, progressive farmers, and agricultural consultants.




Conservation Biological Control


Book Description

This volume is a comprehensive treatment of how the principles of ecology and conservation biology can be used to maximize biological control. Conservation Biological Control presents various means to modify or manipulate the environment to enhance the activities of natural enemies of pests. It establishes a conceptual link between ecology and the agricultural use of agents for biological control, and discusses both theoretical issues as well as practical management concerns. Certain to be interesting to ecologists and entomologists, this volume will also appeal to scientists, faculty, researchers and students interested in pest management, horticulture, plant sciences, and agriculture. - Contains chapters by an international team of leading authorities - Establishes a conceptual link between ecology and the agricultural use of agents for biological control - Discusses both theoretical issues as well as practical management concerns - Provides specific examples of how conservation principles are used to maximize the biological control of pests




Handbook of Biological Control


Book Description

For many years the use of chemical agents such as pesticides and herbicides has been effective in controlling the many varieties of pests that infest both agricultural crops and backyard gardens. However, these pests are gradually becoming resistant to these agents, because the agents themselves are acting as selective factors making the pests better and better able to resist and persist. As a result, the use of biological controlling agents is increasing. This book is a comprehensive and authoritative handbook of biological control.




Biological Control


Book Description

This book enhances our understanding of biological control, integrating historical analysis, theoretical models and case studies in an ecological framework.




Natural Enemies


Book Description

Publisher Description




Integrative Biological Control


Book Description

This book is the first to integrate biological control into a conceptual framework – ecostacking - uniting all aspects of biological control and ecosystem services. In 2018 the "First International Congress of Biological Control" was organised and held in Beijing, China. The chapters highlight some of the achievements presented at the congress, worldwide. Of particular significance are the numerous contributions by Chinese researchers illustrating the remarkable progress made on developing and adopting multiple biological control strategies over vast agricultural areas, largely replacing chemical pesticides for sustainable agricultural and horticultural production. In many parts of the world including Europe, fragmented research based on short-term funding has been unable to answer to the needs to develop sustainable long-term solutions to crop protection, while colleagues in China have been successful in implementing programs that exemplify the power of the ecostacking approach. Key contributions by European and US specialists combined with the expertise and experiences by the Chinese contributors comprise the building blocks for the integration of biological control approaches into the overall frame of ecostacking. This book will lead the way to a broader, integrated adoption of biological control techniques in sustainable pest, disease and weed management supporting also the functioning of other key ecosystem services. Chapter 2 of this book isavailable open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com




Plant-Provided Food for Carnivorous Insects


Book Description

This book, first published in 2005, addresses food-mediated interactions, focusing on how plants employ foods to recruit arthropod 'bodyguards' as a protection against herbivores.




Ecofriendly Pest Management for Food Security


Book Description

Ecofriendly Pest Management for Food Security explores the broad range of opportunity and challenges afforded by Integrated Pest Management systems. The book focuses on the insect resistance that has developed as a result of pest control chemicals, and how new methods of environmentally complementary pest control can be used to suppress harmful organisms while protecting the soil, plants, and air around them. As the world's population continues its rapid increase, this book addresses the production of cereals, vegetables, fruits, and other foods and their subsequent demand increase. Traditional means of food crop production face proven limitations and increasing research is turning to alternative means of crop growth and protection. - Addresses environmentally focused pest control with specific attention to its role in food security and sustainability. - Includes a range of pest management methods, from natural enemies to biomolecules. - Written by experts with extensive real-world experience.




Prospects for Biological Control of Plant Feeding Mites and Other Harmful Organisms


Book Description

The history of biological control of harmful organisms by mites is marked by outstanding achievements with a few premiere natural enemies. Early works concentrated on the use of predatory mites for the control of synanthropic flies, More recently, the focus has been mostly on mites of the family Phytoseiidae for the control of plant feeding mites. This is an important family of acarine predators of plant pest mites, which are effectively used in agriculture worldwide. Besides the vast knowledge in several species in this family, there are as well many opportunities for biological control, represented in an array of organisms and through the improvement of management techniques, which are constantly explored by researchers worldwide. This has resulted in an increasing interest in predatory mite species within the families Stigmaeidae, Ascidae, Laelapidae, Rhodacaroidea, Macrochelidae, Erythraeidae and Cheyletidae, among others. This book will compile important developments with predatory mite species within these families, which are emerging as important tools for integrated pest management. New developments with predatory insects and pathogenic organisms attacking mites will also be a subject of this book. Finally, the potential and gaps in knowledge in biological control of acarine plant pests will be addressed.




Environmental Pest Management


Book Description

A wide-ranging, interdisciplinary exploration of key topics that interrelate pest management, public health and the environment This book takes a unique, multidimensional approach to addressing the complex issues surrounding pest management activities and their impacts on the environment and human health, and environmental effects on plant protection practices. It features contributions by a distinguished group of authors from ten countries, representing an array of disciplines. They include plant protection scientists and officers, economists, agronomists, ecologists, environmental and public health scientists and government policymakers. Over the course of eighteen chapters, those experts share their insights into and analyses of an array of issues of vital concern to everyone with a professional interest in this important subject. The adverse effects of pest control have become a subject of great concern worldwide, and researchers and enlightened policymakers have at last begun to appreciate the impact of environmental factors on our ability to manage pest populations. Moreover, while issues such as pesticide toxicity have dominated the global conversation about pest management, economic and societal considerations have been largely neglected. Environmental Pest Management: Challenges for Agronomists, Ecologists, Economists and Policymakers is the first work to provide in-depth coverage of all of these pressing issues between the covers of one book. Offers a unique multi-dimensional perspective on the complex issues surrounding pest management activities and their effect on the environment and human health Addresses growing concerns about specific pest management strategies, including the use of transgenic crops and biological controls Analyses the influence of global processes, such as climate change, biological invasions and shifts in consumer demand, and ecosystem services and disservices on pest suppression efforts Explores public health concerns regarding biodiversity, pesticide use and food safety Identifies key economic drivers of pest suppression research, strategies and technologies Proposes new regulatory approaches to create sustainable and viable crop protection systems in the framework of agro-environmental schemes Offering a timely and comprehensively-unique treatment of pest management and its environmental impacts in a single, inter-disciplinary volume, this book is a valuable resource for scientists in an array of disciplines, as well as government officials and policymakers. Also, teachers of undergraduate and graduate level courses in a variety of fields are sure to find it a highly useful teaching resource.