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Biological control agents of weeds include seed predators, herbivores, and plant pathogens. Biological control can have side-effects on biodiversity through attacks on non-target species by any of the above mechanisms, especially when a species is introduced without a thorough understanding of the possible consequences.
Biological pest control is a rapidly expanding field of agriculture, where natural agents, primarily parasitoids and predators are used to control a pest organism that has been causing economic harm to human interests. These methods can be as alternatives or supplements to conventional pest control methods such as insecticides.
The screw-worm fly was the first pest successfully eliminated from an area through the sterile insect technique, by the use of an integrated area-wide approach.. The sterile insect technique (SIT) [1] [2] is a method of biological insect control, whereby overwhelming numbers of sterile insects are released into the wild.
A separate award for graduate students in biological control was established in 1966. [16] The Harry S. Smith scholarship fund was established for students studying biological control, started with a $15,000 bequest from Smith for that purpose. [17] The archives of Smith's papers are now stored with the Entomology Department of UCR. [18]
BioControl is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media covering all aspects of basic and applied research in biological control of invertebrate, vertebrate, and weed pests, and plant diseases.
Releasing predators, parasitoids, or pathogens to control pest populations as a form of biological control. [73] Chemical control like releasing pheromones into the field to confuse the insects into not being able to find mates and reproduce. [74] Integrated Pest Management: using multiple techniques in tandem to achieve optimal results. [75]
Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki (Btk) is a group of bacteria used as biological control agents against lepidopterans (moths and butterflies). Btk, along with other B. thuringiensis products, is one of the most widely used biological pesticides due to its high specificity; it is effective against lepidopterans, and it has little to no effect on nontarget species.
Paul Hevener DeBach (28 December 1914 – 15 February 1992) was an American entomologist who was a specialist on biological control.He wrote the influential book Biological Control by Natural Enemies first published in 1974 which went through several editions and helped in the development of the field of biological control.