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Critical Issues Related to Nontarget Effects in Classical Biological Control of Insects

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Nontarget Effects of Biological Control

Abstract

Nontarget effects of introduced natural enemies are now part of the agenda of classical biological control. This development has been documented in a number of books and reviews, including (1990), (1991), Ehler (1990a, 1991), (1992), (1995), and Simberloff and Stiling (1996a, 1996b). Much of the debate centers around host specificity of introduced agents and the possibility of host shifts to nontarget species (McEvoy 1996, Secord and Kareiva 1996). The response from the biological-control community to this latest challenge has varied from outright hostility to calls for more reasoned dialog between conservation biologists and practitioners of classical biological control. The ongoing debate also raises critical issues relative to the future of classical biological control, and this will be the major theme of this chapter. The emphasis will be on predators and parasites of insect pests. I will restrict my comments to three issues: choice of target pest, introduction strategy, and evaluation of impact on nontarget species.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, California, USA

    L. E. Ehler

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  1. L. E. Ehler
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. USDA-ARS Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center, Hawaii, USA

    Peter A. Follett

  2. University of Hawaii, USA

    Jian J. Duan

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Ehler, L.E. (2000). Critical Issues Related to Nontarget Effects in Classical Biological Control of Insects. In: Follett, P.A., Duan, J.J. (eds) Nontarget Effects of Biological Control. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4577-4_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4577-4_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-7067-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-4577-4

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