Control of Pests and Weeds by Natural Enemies: An Introduction to Biological Control

by Roy van Driesche (University of Massachusetts ); Mark Hoddle (University of California, Riverside ); Ted Center (Agricultural Research Service, USA )

• ISBN13: 9781444300413
• ISBN10: 1444300415
• Format: eBook
• Copyright: 2009-01-01
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Biological control - utilizing a population of natural enemies to seasonally or permanently suppress pests - is not a new concept. The cottony cushion scale, which nearly destroyed the citrus industry of California, was controlled by an introduced predatory insect in the 1880s. Accelerated invasions by insects and spread of weedy non-native plants in the last century have increased the need for the use of biological control. Use of carefully chosen natural enemies has become a major tool for the protection of natural ecosystems, biodiversity and agricultural and urban environments. This book offers a multifaceted yet integrated discussion on two major applications of biological control: permanent control of invasive insects and plants at the landscape level and temporary suppression of both native and exotic pests in farms, tree plantations, and greenhouses. Written by leading international experts in the field, the text discusses control of invasive species and the role of natural enemies in pest management. This book is essential reading for courses on Invasive Species, Pest Management, and Crop Protection. It is an invaluable reference book for biocontrol professionals, restorationists, agriculturalists, and wildlife biologists. Further information and resources can be found on the Editor's own website at: www.invasiveforestinsectandweedbiocontrol.info/index.htm

Table of Contents

Preface

Scope of biological control.

Introduction.

Types of biological control, targets, and agents.

What is biological control?

Permanent control over large areas

Temporary pest suppression in production areas

Kinds of targets and kinds of agents

Kinds of natural enemies.

Parasitoid diversity and ecology.

What is a parasitoid?

Terms and processes

Some references to parasitoid families

Groups of parasitoids

Finding hosts

Host recognition and assessment

Defeating host defenses

Regulating host physiology

Patch-time allocation

Predator diversity and ecology.

Non-insect predators

Major groups of predatory insects

Overview of predator biology

Predator foraging behavior

Predators and pest control

Effects of alternative foods on predator impact

Interference of generalist predators with classical biological control agents

Predator and prey defense strategies

Weed biocontrol agent diversity and ecology.

The goal of weed biological control

Terms and processes

Herbivory and host finding

Herbivore guilds

Groups of herbivores and plant pathogens

Arthropod pathogen diversity and ecology.

Bacterial pathogens of arthropods

Viral pathogens of arthropods

Fungal pathogens of arthropods

Nematodes attacking arthropods

Generalized arthropod pathogen life cycle

Epidemiology: what leads to disease outbreaks?

Invasions: why biological control is needed:

The invasion crisis.

Urgency of the invasion crisis

Case histories of four high-impact invaders

The extent of harmful impact by invaders

How do invasive species get to new places?

Why do some invasions succeed but others fail?

Invader ecology and impact

Ways to suppress invasive species.

Prevention: heading off new invasions through sound policy

Eradication based on early detection

Invaders that do no harm

Control of invasive pests in natural areas

Factors affecting control in natural areas

Control of invasive species in crops

Natural enemy introductions: theory and practice.

Interaction webs as the conceptual framework for classical biological control.

Terminology

Forces setting plant population density

Forces setting insect population density

Predictions about pests based on food webs

The role of population ecology and population models in biological control: Joseph Elkinton (University of Massachusetts).

Basic concepts

Population models

Classical biological control.

Introduction

Classical biological control

New-association biological control

Summary

Weed biological control.

Differences and similarities between weed and arthropod programs

Why plants become invasive

Selecting suitable targets for weed biological control

Conflicts of interest in weed biological control

Faunal inventories: finding potential weed biological control agents

Safety: "will those bugs eat my roses?"

Pre-release determination of efficacy

How many agents are necessary for weed control?

Release, establishment, and dispersal

Evaluation of impacts

Non-target impacts

When is a project successful?

Conclusions

Tools for classical biological control.

Foreign exploration.

Planning and conducting foreign exploration

Shipping natural enemies

Operating a quarantine laboratory

Managing insect colonies in quarantine

Developing petitions for release into the environment

Climate matching.

Climate matching

Inductive modeling: predicting spread and incursion success

Deductive modeling: predicting spread and incursion success

Conclusions

Molecular tools: Richard Stouthamer (University of California Riverside).

Types of molecular data

Important biological control issues that molecular techniques can address

Conclusions

Safety.

Non-target impacts of biological control agents.

Biological control as an evolving technology

The amateur to early scientific period (1800-1920)

A developing science makes some mistakes (1920-70)

Broadening perspectives (1970-90)

Current practice and concerns

"Re-greening" biological control

Predicting natural enemy host ranges.

Literature records

Surveys in the native range

Laboratory testing to estimate host ranges

Interpretation of tests

Examples of host-range estimation

Risk assessment

Avoiding indirect non-target impacts.

Kinds of potential indirect effects

Can risk of indirect impacts be reduced by predicting natural enemy efficacy?

Measuring natural enemy impacts on pests.

Field colonization of natural enemies.

Limitations from the agent or recipient community

Managing release sites

Quality of the release

Caging or other release methods

Persistence and confirmation

Natural enemy evaluation.

Natural enemy surveys in crops

Pre-release surveys for classical biological control

Post-release surveys to detect establishment and spread of new agents

Post-release monitoring for non-target impacts

Measurement of impacts on the pest

Separating effects of a complex of natural enemies

Economic assessment of biological control

Conserving biological control agents in crops.

Protecting natural enemies from pesticides.

Problems with pesticides

Super pests and missing natural enemies

Dead wildlife and pesticide residues in food

Cases when pesticides are the best tool

How pesticides affect natural enemies

Seeking solutions: physiological selectivity

Pesticide-resistant natural enemies

Ecological selectivity: using non-selective pesticides with skill

Transgenic Bt crops: the ulimate ecologically selective pesticide

Enhancing crops as natural enemy environments.

unfavorable crop varieties

breeding natural enemy-friendly crops

crop fields physically damaging to natural enemies

cover crops, mulching, no till farming, strip harvesting

inadequate nutritional sources

adding nutrition to crop environments

inadequate reproduction opportunities

creating opportunities for contact with alternative hosts or prey

inadequate sources of natural enemy colonists

crop-field connectivity, vegetation diversity, and refuges

Other practices that can affect natural enemies

Conclusions

Biopesticides.

Microbial pesticides: issues and concepts.

History of microbial insecticides

What makes a pathogen a likely biopesticide?

Overview of options for rearing pathogens

Agent quality: finding it, keeping it, improving it

Measuring the efficacy of microbial pesticides

Degree of market penetration and future outlook

Use of arthropod pathogens as pesticides.

Bacteria as insecticides

Fungi as biopesticides

Viruses as insecticides

Nematodes for insect control

Safety of biopesticides

Augmentative biological control.

Biological control in greenhouses.

Historical beginnings

When are greenhouses favorable for biological control?

Natural enemies available from the insectary industry

Growers' commitment to change

Requirements for success: efficacy and low cost

Methods for mass rearing parasitoids and predators

Practical use of natural enemies

Programs with different biological control strategies

Integration of multiple biocontrol agents for several pests

Safety of natural enemy releases in greenhouses

Augmentative release of natural enemies in outdoor crops.

Trichogramma wasps for moth control

Use of predatory phytoseiid mites

Control of filth flies

Other examples of specialized agents

Generalist predators sold for non-specific problems

Other targets and new directions.

Vertebrate pests.

Predators as vertebrate control agents

Parasites as vertebrate control agents

Pathogens as vertebrate control agents

New avenues for biological control of vertebrates

Conclusions

Expanding the biological control horizon: new purposes and new targets.

Targeting weeds and arthropod pests of natural areas

Targeting "non-traditional" invasive pests

Conclusions

Future directions.

Classical biological control

Conservation biological control

Augmentation biological control

Biopesticides

Conclusions

References

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.