Classical biocontrol: panacea or Pandora’s box

Author:

Howarth, F.G.

Title:

Classical biocontrol: panacea or Pandora’s box

Periodical:

Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society

Year:

1983

Volume:

24

Pages:

239-244

Subject:

Biological pest control Alien species control Caterpillars Wasps Ecology

Summary:

Classical biological control, (the discovery, importation, and release of a foreign species with the expectation that it will control a pest population), blossomed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when a great many animals were indiscriminately introduced in an effort to avoid using chemicals for pest control. While many believed that this method of pest control was considered safe and without environmental risk, the author felt that this was a dangerous attitude. In this document, the author explains why classical biocontrol is not a panacea for the problem and why believing that this is a non-disruptive, non-pollutive method of pest control is misleading. One example that is sited is that it was believed that the reduction of native caterpillars led to the rarity and perhaps the extinction of the Odynerus wasps, a native predator. However, a strong case was made to indicate that this decline of native arthropods, particularly Lepidoptera, was one of the main factors that lead to the decline and extinction of Hawaii's insectivorous birds. As a result, biocontrol requires much more systematics research to be effective. Therefore, until the systematics and ecology is well understood, control procedures may be relegated to coping with crises as they arise rather than managing pest populations.

Label:

Ecology

URL:

http://hdl.handle.net/10125/11156

Date:

1983

Collection:

Periodicals