Abstract
Fifty years ago, Stern, Smith, van den Bosch and Hagen outlined a simple but sophisticated idea of pest control predicated on the complementary action of chemical and biological control. This integrated control concept has since been a driving force and conceptual foundation for all integrated pest management (IPM) programs. The four basic elements include thresholds for determining the need for control, sampling to determine critical densities, understanding and conserving the biological control capacity in the system and the use of selective insecticides or selective application methods, when needed, to augment biological control. Here we detail the development, evolution, validation and implementation of an integrated control (IC) program for whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.), in the Arizona cotton system that provides a rare example of the vision of Stern and his colleagues. Economic thresholds derived from research-based economic injury levels were developed and integrated with rapid and accurate sampling plans into validated decision tools widely adopted by consultants and growers. Extensive research that measured the interplay among pest population dynamics, biological control by indigenous natural enemies and selective insecticides using community ordination methods, predator:prey ratios, predator exclusion and demography validated the critical complementary roles played by chemical and biological control. The term ‘bioresidual’ was coined to describe the extended environmental resistance from biological control and other forces possible when selective insecticides are deployed. The tangible benefits have been a 70% reduction in foliar insecticides, a >$200 million saving in control costs and yield, along with enhanced utilization of ecosystem services over the last 14 years. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Highlights
Fifty years ago, four entomologists from California articulated a concept of pest management[1] that has since become a seminal scientific contribution and a driving force and conceptual foundation for all modern integrated pest management (IPM) programs
We demonstrate that the period of suppression can be measured in days for conventional chemistry versus weeks for selective chemistry, and the reintroduce concept of ‘bioresidual’, which was imparted to growers to communicate the extended suppressive interval made possible by selective insecticides and a functional integrated control (IC) program
Cotton is cultivated in about 80 countries, with a total production of ≈23.6 billion kg of lint in 2008,6 is plagued by dozens of arthropod pests,[7,8] and has historically been exposed to large volumes of insecticides.[9,10]
Summary
Four entomologists from California articulated a concept of pest management[1] that has since become a seminal scientific contribution and a driving force and conceptual foundation for all modern integrated pest management (IPM) programs. The four essential elements include thresholds for determining the need to control pest populations, sampling plans for measuring critical densities, an understanding of the impact of biological control on the pest and knowledge of selective insecticides or methods of deployment that complement rather than disrupt this biological control. There has always been an uneasy tension between biological control specialists and IPM scientists having to develop and deploy usable programs for client growers and pest management practitioners. Will we discuss multiple functional assessments of conserved biological control agents over many years will be discussed, including detailed life tables, analyses of marginal mortality rates, irreplaceable mortality and predator : prey ratios. We discuss the impact of our IC program as part of an overall IPM strategy and provide some perspective on the future
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