Intergrated Pest Mangement Flashcards
Integrated pest management (IPM)
combination of methods used to effectively control (reduce & eliminate) pest species while minimizing disruption to environment.
Benefits of using IPM
- decreases amount of chemical pesticides sprayed on crops
- economic savings
- sustainable
- targeted
- minimizes loss of pollinators
- minimizes health risks
- decreases pesticide resistance - pesticide treadmill
Drawbacks of using IPM
- complex
- slow
- expensive
How does the heavy use of pesticides negatively impact the environment?
- Non-Targeted wildlife: praying mantis, birds, amphibians, bats
- Herbicide Atrazine - linked to endocrine disruptor in frogs (male frogs turned into female frogs)
- Water supplies: water pollution, fish, insects, non-target aquatic plants, frogs
- Human health: rashes, nausea, diarrhea, blindness
How does IPM using farming techniques like crop rotation and intercropping to reduce pests? What is the ultimate goal of IPM towards the population size of pests?
Crop rotations: plant a different crop next growing season - pests become specialists - so if different crop is planted every year, pest species will not have food source
- By switching crops, pest species may not accumulate in numbers that warrant pesticide use.
- Intercropping - may cause pests present to compete for sources & thus keep their populations in check\
- IPM does not want to exterminate all agricultural pests - these organisms are part of trophic structure of ecosystem & extermination isn’t sustainable/ideal in terms of biodiversity
Biological Controls and Examples
living controls that control pest species (introduction of natural pest predators)
Physical Controls and Examples
physical control that eliminates or tries to control pest species (traps, tilling, screens, weed blocker, fences)
Chemical Controls and Examples
Last resort, use pesticide (glyphosate, Atrazine, DDT)
