Biological Control of Tropical Weeds using Arthropods

Weeds are a major constraint to agricultural production, particularly in the developing world. Cost-efficient biological control is a self-sustaining way to reduce this problem, and produces fewer non-target effects than chemical methods, which can cause serious damage to the environment. This book covers the origin, distribution, and ecology of twenty model invasive weed species, which occur in habitats from tropical to temperate to aquatic. Sustainable biological control of each weed using one or more arthropods is discussed. The aim is to provide ecological management models for use across the tropical world, and to assist in the assessment of potential risks to native and economic plants. This is a valuable resource for scientists and policy makers concerned with the biological control of invasive tropical plants.

Rangaswamy Muniappan, Program Director of the Integrated Pest Management Collaborative Research Support Program (IMP CRSP) at the Office of International Research, Education and Development at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA, has specialized in biological control and Integrated Pest Management research in the tropics for over 35 years. He served as the Chairman of the Global Working Group on Chromolaena of the International Organization for Biological Control from 1992 to 2006, and is currently responsible for managing the IPM CRSP and coordinating with USAID and project partner institutions in the United States and developing countries in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. Gadi V. P. Reddy is an Entomologist in the Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Guam, USA. His research interests include developing sex pheromones, host volatiles and other attractants for use in Integrated Pest Management, behavioral and chemical ecology of multitrophic interactions, and biological control of invasive pests and weeds. He has over 65 research publications and has contributed to numerous radio shows and newspaper articles on pest management. Anantanarayanan Raman is a Senior Lecturer of Ecological Agriculture at the Charles Sturt University and the E. H. Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, Australia. His research interests include arthropod-plant interactions, weed biological control, ecology of soil organisms, soil health and agroforestry. He has published over 125 research papers and authored/edited 9 reference books.