Book description
Biodiversity offers great potential for managing insect pests. It
provides resistance genes and anti-insect compounds; a huge range of
predatory and parasitic natural enemies of pests; and community
ecology-level effects operating at the local and landscape scales to
check pest build-up. This book brings together world leaders in
theoretical, methodological and applied aspects to provide a
comprehensive treatment of this fast-moving field. Chapter authors from
Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Americas ensure a truly
international scope. Topics range from scientific principles, innovative
research methods, ecological economics and effective communication to
farmers, as well as case studies of successful use of biodiversity-based
pest management some of which extend over millions of hectares or are
enshrined as government policy.
Written to be accessible to advanced undergraduates whilst also
stimulating the seasoned researcher, this work will help unlock the
power of biodiversity to deliver sustainable insect pest management.
Visit www. wiley. com/go/gurr/biodiversity to access the artwork from
the book. Geoff Gurr
is Professor of Applied Ecology at Charles Sturt University in
Australia. Over the last two decades he has worked on the ecology and
management of pests in systems as diverse as pastures and forests. Much
of his recent work has been with collaborators throughout Asia where
insecticide resistance in sucking pests of rice has driven the
development and adoption of biodiversity-based management
strategies.Steve Wratten
is Professor of Ecology at Lincoln University, New Zealand and Visiting
Professor at Charles Sturt University in Australia. His main research
concerns evaluating and enhancing "nature's services"
(ecosystem services). Using resource economics techniques, the existing
value of these services (such things as biological control of pests) is
estimated and then habitat manipulation ("ecological
engineering") is used to enhance these services on farmland to
provide profit and real evidence of sustainability. This work is done
across several agricultural sectors but especially in
vineyards.William Snyder
is Professor of Entomology at Washington State University, USA. With
the help of a small army of students and postdocs, he explores the
relationship between biodiversity and biocontrol. Recent work focuses on
the relative importance of the two components of biodiversity, species
number (richness) and species balance (evenness), and practical ways for
farmers to harness biodiversity's many benefits.Donna Read
is a Research Assistant at Charles Sturt University, Australia with
interests in rural sociology, agricultural economics and horticulture.
