Habitat Management to Conserve Natural Enemies of Arthropod Pests in Agriculture

Many agroecosystems are unfavorable environments for natural enemies due to high levels of disturbance. Habitat management, a form of conservation biological control, is an ecologically based approach aimed at favoring natural enemies and enhancing biological control in agricultural systems. The goa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual review of entomology 2000-01, Vol.45 (1), p.175-201
Main Authors: Landis, Douglas A, Wratten, Stephen D, Gurr, Geoff M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
agricultural landscapes
Agriculture
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Applied ecology
Arthropods
Biological and medical sciences
Biological control
conservation biological control
Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife
Control
disturbance
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Parasites
parasitoids
Pest Control, Biological - methods
Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection
predators
Predatory Behavior
Protozoa. Invertebrates
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Summary:Many agroecosystems are unfavorable environments for natural enemies due to high levels of disturbance. Habitat management, a form of conservation biological control, is an ecologically based approach aimed at favoring natural enemies and enhancing biological control in agricultural systems. The goal of habitat management is to create a suitable ecological infrastructure within the agricultural landscape to provide resources such as food for adult natural enemies, alternative prey or hosts, and shelter from adverse conditions. These resources must be integrated into the landscape in a way that is spatially and temporally favorable to natural enemies and practical for producers to implement. The rapidly expanding literature on habitat management is reviewed with attention to practices for favoring predators and parasitoids, implementation of habitat management, and the contributions of modeling and ecological theory to this developing area of conservation biological control. The potential to integrate the goals of habitat management for natural enemies and nature conservation is discussed.
ISSN:0066-4170
1545-4487
DOI:10.1146/annurev.ento.45.1.175