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Forum—Invasive Species and Areawide Pest Management: What We
Have Learned
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Farmers and land managers have
always had to deal with unwanted weeds, plant pathogens, and insect pests. But
improvements in transportation and trade have made it easier for both desirable
goods and undesirable pests to move across regional and national boundaries.
The Invasive Species Council, established in 1999 by Presidential Executive
Order 13112, defines an invasive species as any plant, animal, or organism that
is not native to the ecosystem under consideration and whose introduction is
likely to cause harm to human health, the environment, or the economy.
ARS has been a full partner in this
council, helping to develop an Invasive Species Management Plan. This plan
recommends specific objectives and measures for coordinating a federal response
to the order.
With hundreds of invasive species costing Americans well over $100 billion
annually, there is no question that this issue is a national priority.
Invasives include not just recent introductions like glassy-winged
sharpshooters, but centuries-old nemeses like codling moths, which invaded our
shores early in the 1800s and have caused significant problems ever since.
ARS conducts research in extremely diverse areas involving prevention, control,
and management of invasive species. This research includes, but is not limited
to, reducing the rate of introduction of invasive species and rapidly
detecting, identifying, and developing technology to eradicate newly emerging
pests. ARS also conducts extensive research on the long-term management of
established invasive species, emphasizing biologically based integrated pest
management (IPM) activities, including the areawide projects described in this
issue of Agricultural Research.
ARS' areawide pest management demonstration programs have shown that dealing
with pests in small areas is not nearly as effective as blanketing a large area
with control strategies. Each tool developed or piece of knowledge gained
helps, but synergistic good can come from pulling all the pieces together over
a large area. And cooperation between researchers across disciplines and
institutions—especially incorporating public education resources through
the State Agricultural Experiment Stations and extension facilities—is
crucial to turning research results into field successes.
Partnering with other federal agencies, farmers and ranchers, and
private-sector entities (for example, consultants, industry, environmental
groups) is also essential.
Areawide pest management has been used effectively many times. Eradicating
screwworms was among the first and most noteworthy successes with such an
approach. Former ARS scientists Edward F. Knipling and Raymond C. Bushland
showed that it was possible to eliminate the pest from a region by releasing
sterile male flies and conducting comprehensive monitoring.
ARS researchers have participated in many other multiorganization pest
management programs, directed against insects such as ticks, silverleaf
whitefly, pink bollworm, and boll weevil. A new project funded by a grant from
the Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems addresses three weeds at
once through an ecosystem approach.
But a large-scale approach is still the exception rather than the rule. Social,
political, and economic factors must come together with science before an
areawide program can succeed. In addition, scientific challenges include
defining the appropriate geographic area, selecting the control approaches to
test and combine, and addressing the different life cycles of the target pest
as well as secondary pests.
No one agency or institution can tackle these problems alone.
In 1994, ARS formalized a mechanism for increasing the number of pest problems
addressed by areawide efforts and focusing on environmentally friendly
approaches. So far, projects to control codling moths, insects in stored grain,
and corn rootworms have decreased pest insect populations and amounts of
pesticides applied. Newly launched, or soon-to-be-launched, projects address
fruit flies, fire ants, lygus bugs, Russian wheat aphids, greenbugs, and the
melaleuca tree.
We're also still contributing scientific knowledge toward controlling invasive
pests that either haven't reached the stage where an areawide program is
feasible or where another agency is taking the lead. Stories in this issue of
the magazine cover such efforts on several water weeds and the glassy-winged
sharpshooter.
The goal of these projects is not just to reduce the pests, but also to enhance
cooperation between the myriad organizations and individuals affected by the
pests. Many of our pest control programs address issues over many disciplines
and environments, but the areawide programs give us specific opportunities to
promote IPM and establish wide-ranging partnerships to transfer scientific
results to users.
For that reason, the General Accounting Office has said that these programs
should be models for demonstrating the economic, social, and environmental
benefits of IPM. Each project, in addition to the large-scale demonstration
sites, includes assessment and education. When we run into problems, the
research component helps us find solutions.
Robert Faust
National Program Leader
Field/Horticulture Crop Entomology
Beltsville, Maryland |
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"Forum" was published in the
November 2001
issue of Agricultural Research magazine.
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