Restoring functional integrity of the global production ecosystem through biological control

Authors: WYCKHUYS, KRIS - Queensland University - Australia; GU, B.G. - Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO); BEN FEKIH, I. - University Of Liege; FINGER, R. - Eth Zurich; KENIS, MARC - Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau International (CABI) - Switzerland; LU, Y. - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; SUBRAMANIAN, SEVGAN - African Insect Science For Food And Health (ICIPE); TANG, FIONA - Monash University; Weber, Donald; ZHANG, W. - International Food Policy Researc Institute (IFPRI); HADI, B.A.R. - Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO)

Submitted to: Journal of Environmental Management
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/4/2024
Publication Date: 9/12/2024
Citation: Wyckhuys, K., Gu, B., Ben Fekih, I., Finger, R., Kenis, M., Lu, Y., Subramanian, S., Tang, F., Weber, D.C., Zhang, W., Hadi, B. 2024. Restoring functional integrity of the global production ecosystem through biological control. Journal of Environmental Management. 370: 122446. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122446.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122446

Interpretive Summary: Human society is anchored in the global agroecosystem. For millennia, this system has provided humans with copious supplies of nutrient-rich food. Yet, through chemicalintensification and simplification, vast shares of present-day farmland derive insufficient benefits from biodiversity and prove highly vulnerable to biotic stressors. Here, we argue that on-farm action centered on biological control can instantaneously defuse pest risk by bolstering foundational ecosystem services and restore degraded farmland. By effectively harnessing (plant, animal, microbial) biodiversity, biological control offers safe, efficacious and economically-sound plant health solutions and coevolved options for invasive species mitigation. In recent years, its scientific foundation has been fortified and solutions have been refined for myriad ecologicallybrittle systems. Yet, for biological control to be mainstreamed, it needs to be rebooted, intertwined with (on- and off-farm) agroecological tactics and refurbished - from research, policy and regulation up to modes of implementation. Misaligned incentives and adoption barriers further need to be removed while its scientific underpinnings should become more interdisciplinary, policy-relevant and solution-oriented. Thus,biological control could ensure human wellbeing in a nature-friendly manner, and retain farmland ecological functioning under global change.

Technical Abstract: Human society is anchored in the global agroecosystem. For millennia, this system has provided humans with copious supplies of nutrient-rich food. Yet, through chemicalintensification and simplification, vast shares of present-day farmland derive insufficient benefits from biodiversity and prove highly vulnerable to biotic stressors. Here, we argue that on-farm action centered on biological control can instantaneously defuse pest risk by bolstering foundational ecosystem services and restore degraded farmland. By effectively harnessing (plant, animal, microbial) biodiversity, biological control offers safe, efficacious and economically-sound plant health solutions and coevolved options for invasive species mitigation. In recent years, its scientific foundation has been fortified and solutions have been refined for myriad ecologicallybrittle systems. Yet, for biological control to be mainstreamed, it needs to be rebooted, intertwined with (on- and off-farm) agroecological tactics and refurbished - from research, policy and regulation up to modes of implementation. Misaligned incentives and adoption barriers further need to be removed while its scientific underpinnings should become more interdisciplinary, policy-relevant and solution-oriented. Thus,biological control could ensure human wellbeing in a nature-friendly manner, and retain farmland ecological functioning under global change.