Ecological Engineering for Pest Management in Agro Ecosystem-A Review

Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2017) 6(7): 1476-1485 International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 7 (2017) pp. 1476-1485 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Review Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2017.607.176 Ecological Engineering for Pest Management in Agro Ecosystem-A Review Muneer Ahmad* and S.S. Pathania Division of Entomology, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Shalimar Srinagar, Kashmir, J&K, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Plants are not capable of running away from their enemies, i.e., the herbivores that may eat them. However, under certain circumstances, plants can rely on the natural enemies of insect herbivores for protection. These natural enemies include other insects that are predators and parasitoids. Habitat manipulation, which is also referred to as “Ecological K e yw or ds Engineering”, focuses on reducing mortality of natural enemies, providing the supplementary resources and manipulating host plant attributes for the benefit of natural Ecological, bio-agents. This can be achieved by enhancing the plant diversity and by providing Pest, adequate refugia in the agro-ecosystem. In this article we review the use of natural enemies Management in crop pest management and describe m research needed to better meet information needs and H abitat. for practical applications. Endemic natural enemies (predators and parasites) offer a potential but understudied approach to controlling insect pests in agricultural systems. Article Info With the current high interest in environmental stewardship, such an approach has special Accepted: appeal as a method to reduce the need for pesticides while maintaining agricultural 19 June 2017 profitability. Habitat for sustaining populations of natural enemies occurs primarily at field Available Online: edges where crops and edge vegetation meet. Conservation and enhancement of natural 10 July 2017 enemies might include manipulation of plant species and plant arrangement, particularly at these edges; and consideration of optimum field sizes, number of edges, and management practices in and near edges. Blending the benefits of agricultural and forestry (windbreak) systems is one promising approach to field edge management that has additional benefits of wind protection. Introduction The management of nature is ecological the dominant paradigm. Each of the specific engineering (ODUM 1971) methodological approaches used in IPM (mechanical, physical and cultural control; This review is essentially about the host plant resistance; biological control etc; management of arthropod pests, though at Figure 1) has tended to become a specialised least some of the principles described will area of research with sometimes only limited have relevance to other pests, weeds and communication between researchers across pathogens. Over recent decades, integrated areas. Even sub-areas, such as the four forms pest management (IPM) – the combined use of biological control (conservation, classical, of multiple pest-control methods, informed by inoculation and inundation) recognized by monitoring of pest densities – has emerged as Eilenberg et al., (2001) (Figure 1), have 1476 Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2017) 6(7): 1476-1485 tended to become the domain of specialists. growing crop and prevent pest aphid This has led to calls for greater cooperation outbreaks (Thomas et al., 1991).When and exchange of ideas between different sub- herbivores (the second trophic level) are disciplines. In the case of biological control, suppressed by natural enemies (third trophic for example, Gurr and Wratten (1999) level) in this manner, control is said to be proposed the concept of „integrated biological „top-down‟. Root (1973) referred to pest control‟, which uses conservation biological suppression resulting from this effect as control techniques to support classical, supporting the „enemies‟ hypotheses. inoculation and inundation biological control. Importantly, however, within-crop habitat manipulation strategies such as cover crops Conservation biological control (CBC) has and green mulches (components of the first been defined as „modification of the trophic level, as is the crop) can also act on environment or existing practices to protect pests directly, providing „bottom-up‟ control. and enhance specific natural enemies of other Root (1973) termed pest suppression resulting organisms to reduce the effect of pests‟ from such non-natural enemy effects as the (Eilenberg et al., 2001). In practice, CBC is „resource concentration hypothesis‟, affected by either (1) reducing the pesticide- reflecting the fact that the resource (crop) was induced mortality of natural enemies through effectively „diluted‟ by cues from other plant better targeting in time and space, reducing species. These mechanisms are explored in rates of application or using compounds with detail in chapter 3, „The agro ecological bases a narrower spectrum efficacy, or (2) by of ecological engineering for pest habitat manipulation to improve natural management‟, by Nicholls and Altieri. enemy fitness and effectiveness. Though considerable attention has been devoted to testing the relative importance of The second approach often involves bottom-up and top-down effects, they are not increasing the species diversity and structural mutually exclusive and in many systems both complexity of agro ecosystems. In the context are likely to operate (Gurr et al., 1998). Thus of CBC, habitat manipulation aims to provide habitat manipulation, though it makes a major natural enemies with resources such as nectar contribution to CBC, includes a wider series (Baggen and Gurr, 1998), pollen (Hickman of approaches that may operate independently and Wratten ,1996), physical refugia (Halaji of natural enemies (Figure 1) and, as et al., 2000), alternative prey (Abou-Awad, discussed below, constitute a form of 1998), alternative hosts (Viggiani, 2003) and ecological engineering. Examples of lekking sites (Sutherland et al., 2001). Habitat ecological engineering for pest management manipulation approaches, such as those that operate largely by top-down effects are pictured in figure 1, provide these resources detailed by Pfiffner and Wyss in chapter 11, and operate to reduce pest densities via an „Use of sown wildflower strips‟. Natural enhancement of natural enemies. For enemies use such strips for resources such as example, „beetle banks‟ (Figure 1) are raised nectar and pollen in ways explored by Jervis earth ridges that typically run through the et al., (Ch. 5, „Use of behavioural and life- centre of arable fields and are sown to history studies‟). The push–pull and perennial tussock-forming grasses. During the intercropping approaches described in the two winter, far higher densities of predatory chapters by Khan and Pickett (ch. 10) and arthropods shelter on the well-drained, Mensah and Sequeira (ch. 12) employ top- insulated sites than in the open field. In the down effects, but the operation of bottom-up spring, beetles and other natural enemies effects is also clearly evident. emerge from the beetle bank to colonise the 1477 Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2017) 6(7): 1476-1485 Ecological engineering title reflects the synonym for ecological engineering, „eco technology‟. Various Odum (1962) was among the first to use the disciplines are allied to ecological term „ecological engineering‟, which was engineering: restoration ecology, sustainable viewed as „environmental manipulation by agro ecology, habitat reconstruction, man using small amounts of supplementary ecosystem rehabilitation, river and wetland energy to control systems in which the main restoration and reclamation ecology (Mitsch, energy drives are still coming from natural 1991). These sub-sets indicate the range of sources‟. In more recent years, Mitsch and areas in which ecological engineering has Jorgensen (1989) have defined ecological been applied, including the restoration of engineering as „the design of human society wetlands, treatment and utilisation of with its natural environment for the benefit of wastewater, integrated fish culture systems both‟. Among, the characteristics of this form and mining technology (Mitsch and of engineering are the use of quantitative Jorgensen, 1989) as well as wildlife approaches and ecological theory as well as conservation (Morris et al., 1994). the view of humans as part of, rather than apart from, nature. Ecological engineering is a Adapting and designing the agricultural conscious human activity and should not be system to the environment of the region (e.g. confused with the more recently developed choice of appropriate crop species and term „ecosystem engineering‟. This refers to cultivars); the way in which other species shape habitats via their intrinsic biology rather than by Optimizing the use of biological resources in conscious design. For example, termites alter the agro ecosystem (e.g. the use of biological the structural characteristic of soils control); (Dangerfield et al., 1998), and such ecosystem engineers thereby moderate the Developing strategies that induce minimal availability of resources to other organisms changes to the natural ecosystem to protect (Thomas et al., 1999). Recently, Parrott the environment and minimise use of non- (2002) has discussed the ecological renewable resources (e.g. appropriate engineering field as having evolved to fertiliser formulations and application incorporate a growing number of practitioners patterns).

Load more