Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
affected by insect pests and require inten-
sive pest management. The two systems
differ greatly, however, in their approach to
pest management. One of the biggest
differences between pest management in
agricultural versus urban ecosystems is the
degree to which theory (knowledge) and
application (practice) are developed and
integrated. In agriculture, pest management
has a strong theoretical basis and knowledge
and practice are closely integrated. Agri-
cultural theory is well developed because
community ecologists, population or math-
ematical biologists, and behavioural and
evolutionary ecologists observe or model
insect-plant interactions. Agronomists,
plant breeders and applied entomologists
study the ecological relationship between
insects and their host crops, parasitoids and
pathogens. The results are then integrated
and applied to solve problems related to
pest management. Thus the idea of inte-
grated pest management is especially well
developed in agriculture and pest manage-
ment decisions are made following a series
of evaluations. A four-tiered approach that
includes action thresholds, monitoring, pre-
vention and control is typically used (US
EPA, 2009).
In contrast, the theory of pest manage-
ment in the urban habitat is poorly de-
veloped and, to a large degree, non-existent.
Little is known about the ecology of urban
pests as it relates to pest management
because ecologists and entomologists have
traditionally focused on natural environ-
ments. As a result, pest management in the
urban environment has a relatively narrow
theoretical basis and is largely based on
practice, frequently synonymous with on-
the-job experience rather than knowledge.
Also, the majority of pest management
decisions are often made on the basis of
economic factors, rather than pest biology,
ecology and behaviour. In essence, the gap
between knowledge and practice is large
and diffi cult to close owing to numerous
technical, educational, social and economic
factors (Kogan, 1998; Ehler, 2006).
To compensate for the lack of funda-
mental knowledge of pest biology that is
directly applicable to pest management and
the lack of practices that are based on pest
biology, the pest management industry
relies heavily on technological advance-
ments made by the chemical manufacturing
industry. These advancements are mostly in
the form of new insecticide chemistries,
insecticide formulations and insecticide
delivery techniques. Most insecticide chem-
istries used in the urban market came as
spin-offs from the agricultural industry.
Chemical companies take insecticides
developed for use in crops and test them for
the urban market. Those showing effi cacy
on urban pests are then formulated into
products for the urban market. Fipronil, a
phenyl pyrazole insecticide discovered by
Rhone-Poulenc between 1985 and 1987, is
one of the best examples of this trend.
Fipronil has been evaluated on more than
250 insect pests on 60 crops worldwide and
is marketed for use against numerous
lepidopterous, coleopterous and orth-
opterous pests on a wide range of fi eld and
horticultural crops (Rhone-Polenc, 1996).
Following its success in crops, fi pronil was
subsequently developed for the urban
market and is currently used for ant, termite,
cockroach and fl ea management (e.g.
Hooper-Bui and Rust, 2000; Buczkowski
et
al.
, 2001; Saran and Rust, 2007).
Another difference between pest manage-
ment in agriculture and urban environments
is that total eradication of the pest is
typically the goal in urban settings, espe-
cially when dealing with pests of structural
or medical importance or when performing
treatments in locations that have zero
tolerance for pest presence (e.g. hospitals
and restaurants). Eradication carries a heavy
cost, however, both economic and environ-
mental. For many urban pests, complete
eradication is often very diffi cult to achieve
even when multiple management tools are
used in multiple service visits. This often
results in increased insecticide use in order
to achieve the desired result and the desired
level of customer satisfaction. Heavy doses
of insecticides are used as insurance against
failure or a substitute for hard work (e.g.
failure to perform proper pre-treatment
inspections, develop an action plan and
perform follow-up checks). Even if such
Search WWH ::
Custom Search