Author
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Bruckart, William |
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Submitted to: Encyclopedia of Pest Management
Publication Type: Book / Chapter Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/2002 Publication Date: 8/1/2002 Citation: BRUCKART, W.L. HISTORY OF BIOLOGICAL CONTROLS. pp 373-375 IN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PEST MANAGEMENT. Dekker, NY. 2002. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: The biological control strategy pits one organism against another, ultimately to reduce a pest population to a manageable level. The most important reason for biological control is pest management, and the history of biological control relates directly this. Biological control also is a knowledge-based approach developed also out of curiosity about the biological processes it attempts to harness. Effective use of this strategy requires extensive knowledge about a pest and its biological control agent(s), their interactions, and the benefit of these interactions. There also is a challenge to make it work within the constraints of pest control. Biological control has developed through a seamless progression of events, from the knowledge that organisms feed on others to the concept that this may be beneficial and even practical in pest management. Use of predaceous arthropods in China and Yemen predates formal development of biological control in Western Europe, and the first successful modern application occurred in the 1880s. Since then, support of the concept has grown and now biological control is pursued at institutions worldwide. |
