Advantages and Disadvantages
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| <p>The negative impacts of chemical pesticides is what has guided new attention towards increased emphasis on biological control agents with respect to using fungi through the use of naturally occurring pathogens of arthropods. Many of these naturally occurring pathogens produced by fungi are already being employed, mostly on a small scale controlling arthropod pests in greenhouse crops, orchards, ornamentals, turf and lawn grasses, stored products and forests, and also for moderation of vectors of animal and human diseases. <ref>Lacey et al. (2001). Insect pathogens as biological control agents: do they have a future? ''Biological Control''. '''21''': 230-248. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/bcon.2001.0938</ref> </p> | <p>The negative impacts of chemical pesticides is what has guided new attention towards increased emphasis on biological control agents with respect to using fungi through the use of naturally occurring pathogens of arthropods. Many of these naturally occurring pathogens produced by fungi are already being employed, mostly on a small scale controlling arthropod pests in greenhouse crops, orchards, ornamentals, turf and lawn grasses, stored products and forests, and also for moderation of vectors of animal and human diseases. <ref>Lacey et al. (2001). Insect pathogens as biological control agents: do they have a future? ''Biological Control''. '''21''': 230-248. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/bcon.2001.0938</ref> </p> | ||
| - | <p> | + | <p>Although the utilization of the full potential of fungal biocontrol agents against arthropod pests has had limited commercial success, the major advantages of these biocontrol agents are:<ref name="D. Moore et al">D. Moore, G. Robson, and A. Trinci. (2012). Fungi as pathogens of animals, including humans, CH 16. of ''21st Century Guidebook to Fungi''. pgs. 421-422.</ref> |
| + | * Effectiveness and potentially high specificity; | ||
| + | * Acceptable naturalness; | ||
| + | * Safety for humans and other non target organisms; | ||
| + | * Reduced chemical pesticide use and consequential reduction of residues in food and the environment; | ||
| + | * Protection of natural enemies of the pest; | ||
| + | * Protection of biodiversity in managed ecosystems.</p> | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>Despite these promising advantages of using fungi as biological control agents in pest management, there are some disadvantages as well such as:<ref name="D. Moore et al">D. Moore, G. Robson, and A. Trinci. (2012). Fungi as pathogens of animals, including humans, CH 16. of ''21st Century Guidebook to Fungi''. pgs. 421-422.</ref> | ||
| + | * Can be very costly to produce for commercial use and in quantity; | ||
| + | * They can have a short shelf life; | ||
| + | * The pest must be present before the pathogen can be usefully applied thus making preventative treatment difficult.</P> | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>Furthermore, the disadvantages of the use of entomogenous fungi as biocontrol agents against arthropod pests has been lacking by the need for specific environmental conditions (humidity over 80% and above) during the prolonged period in which the fungi are required to have spores germinate and then penetrate the surface of the arthropods cuticle. This is different from bacterial pathogens in which they go through the host’s digestive tracts. <ref name="D. Moore et al">D. Moore, G. Robson, and A. Trinci. (2012). Fungi as pathogens of animals, including humans, CH 16. of ''21st Century Guidebook to Fungi''. pgs. 421-422.</ref> Researchers have been trying to overcome this problem through the development of oil based and other formulations of fungal spores for use in biological control. Thus we can see that a intricate set of interacting processes, both environmental and biotic, are necessary for or inhibitory to development of epizootics caused by entomopathogenic fungi. These include microbial antagonists; host behavior, physiological condition, pathogen vigor and age; presence of pesticides; and appropriate temperature, humidity, and inoculum thresholds. <ref name="Lancey et al">Lacey et al. (2001). Insect pathogens as biological control agents: do they have a future? ''Biological Control''. '''21''': 230-248. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/bcon.2001.0938</ref>.</p> | ||
Revision as of 12:36, 22 March 2013
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Entomogenous Fungi as Biocontrol Agents of Arthropod Pests
There has been a great amount of research effort dedicated to attempting to employ pest diseases and pathogens into biocontrol agents that can be used to attack those arthropods society views as pests. Biological control is described as the practice by which the undesirable effects of a pest organism are reduced through the activity of another organism that is not the host, is not a pest or isn’t a human. [1]
Synthetic chemical pesticides have been important in arthropod control since the discovery of DDT in the 1930’s and they remain the most important method today because they:[2]
- Have a broad spectrum usually being effective for more then one pest;
- Being highly effective;
- Are affordable, and easy to make;
- Are persistent, able to kill throughout the season or life of the crop.
They have served society well by reducing the economic damage caused by arthropod pests and by reducing the occurrence of the diseases of plants and animals that are transmitted by these pests because of this combination of properties. However these same characteristics have also created the problems widely associated with the use of chemical pesticides. The tenacity and the widespread use of chemical pesticides has resulted in them becoming unnatural mechanisms of the environment resulting in: [3]
- Development of resistance in arthropod pest populations;
- Appearance of new types of pests as old ones vanish;
- Elimination of the natural predators or enemies of pests;
- Disruption of natural ecosystem balance as non pests are also killed;
- Bioaccumulation of pesticides through food chains, adversely affecting mammal and bird populations.
The negative impacts of chemical pesticides is what has guided new attention towards increased emphasis on biological control agents with respect to using fungi through the use of naturally occurring pathogens of arthropods. Many of these naturally occurring pathogens produced by fungi are already being employed, mostly on a small scale controlling arthropod pests in greenhouse crops, orchards, ornamentals, turf and lawn grasses, stored products and forests, and also for moderation of vectors of animal and human diseases. [4]
Although the utilization of the full potential of fungal biocontrol agents against arthropod pests has had limited commercial success, the major advantages of these biocontrol agents are:[5]
- Effectiveness and potentially high specificity;
- Acceptable naturalness;
- Safety for humans and other non target organisms;
- Reduced chemical pesticide use and consequential reduction of residues in food and the environment;
- Protection of natural enemies of the pest;
- Protection of biodiversity in managed ecosystems.
Despite these promising advantages of using fungi as biological control agents in pest management, there are some disadvantages as well such as:[5]
- Can be very costly to produce for commercial use and in quantity;
- They can have a short shelf life;
- The pest must be present before the pathogen can be usefully applied thus making preventative treatment difficult.
Furthermore, the disadvantages of the use of entomogenous fungi as biocontrol agents against arthropod pests has been lacking by the need for specific environmental conditions (humidity over 80% and above) during the prolonged period in which the fungi are required to have spores germinate and then penetrate the surface of the arthropods cuticle. This is different from bacterial pathogens in which they go through the host’s digestive tracts. [5] Researchers have been trying to overcome this problem through the development of oil based and other formulations of fungal spores for use in biological control. Thus we can see that a intricate set of interacting processes, both environmental and biotic, are necessary for or inhibitory to development of epizootics caused by entomopathogenic fungi. These include microbial antagonists; host behavior, physiological condition, pathogen vigor and age; presence of pesticides; and appropriate temperature, humidity, and inoculum thresholds. [6].
Notes and References
- ↑ Lacey et al. (2001). Insect pathogens as biological control agents: do they have a future? Biological Control. 21: 230-248. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/bcon.2001.0938
- ↑ D. Moore, G. Robson, and A. Trinci. (2012). Fungi as pathogens of animals, including humans, CH 16. of 21st Century Guidebook to Fungi. pgs. 421-422.
- ↑ D. Moore, G. Robson, and A. Trinci. (2012). Fungi as pathogens of animals, including humans, CH 16. of 21st Century Guidebook to Fungi. pgs. 421-422.
- ↑ Lacey et al. (2001). Insect pathogens as biological control agents: do they have a future? Biological Control. 21: 230-248. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/bcon.2001.0938
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 D. Moore, G. Robson, and A. Trinci. (2012). Fungi as pathogens of animals, including humans, CH 16. of 21st Century Guidebook to Fungi. pgs. 421-422.
- ↑ Lacey et al. (2001). Insect pathogens as biological control agents: do they have a future? Biological Control. 21: 230-248. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/bcon.2001.0938
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