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Section 2: Principles of Pest
Management Latest Update Rated A+
List the four major pest groups. ✔✔Weeds (undesirable plants), Invertebrates (insects, mites,
ticks, spiders), Plant disease agents (fungi, viruses, bacteria), Vertebrates (rodents, birds)
Explain why accurate pest identification is essential for effective control. ✔✔Needed for pest
control plans. Misidentification and lack of information about a pest could cause you to choose an inappropriate control method or apply the control at the wrong time.
Describe the basic conditions required for a pest to survive. ✔✔Pests must have access to food, water, and proper habitat (physical environment) to survive.
Define the 'action' threshold. ✔✔The action threshold refers to the population level for a specific
pest at which some control measure is justified in order to avoid economic loss or aesthetic damage. Some thresholds are available that are based on research which combines knowledge of pest biology and economics of the treated commodity.
Describe the relationship between pest inspection (monitoring) and an action threshold. ✔✔Pest
management tactics help prevent or deny the occurrence of pesticide resistance. One approach
involves the use fo new compounds with different modes of action. Changing pesticide use patterns is another important means of preventing resistance. Applying pesticides over limited areas reduces the proportion of the total pest population exposed to the chemical, thereby maintaining a large pool of individuals still susceptible to the selection pressure for resistance. The action threshold refers to the population level for a specific pest at which some control measure is justified in order to avoid economic loss or aesthetic damage. Some thresholds are available that are based on research which combines knowledge of pest biology and economics of the treated commodity. Other thresholds are more arbitrary and may be determined by the customer, the nature of the treatment location, or potential impact of the pest on human health.
Describe three non-chemical control options ✔✔Cultivation, Exclusion, Trapping. Cultivation is
one of the most important methods of controlling weeds. Mechanical devices such as plows, disks, mowers, and cultivators physically destroy weeds or control their growth and disrupt soil conditions necessary for the survival of some microorganisms and insects. Exclusion is a mechanical control technique that consists of using barriers to prevent pests from getting into an area. Window screens, for example, exclude flies, mosquitoes, and other flying insects. Patching or sealing cracks, crevices, and other small openings in buildings can exclude insects, rodents bats, birds, or other pests. Fences and ditches make effective barriers against many vertebrate pests. Wire or cloth mesh excludes birds from fruit trees. Sticky material painted onto tree trunks, posts, wires, and other objects prevents crawling insects from crossing. Traps physically capture pests within an area or building. Several types of traps are commonly used. Some kill animals that come in contact with them; others catch animals so they can be relocated or destroyed.
Explain why some pesticide application sites are regarded as sensitive. ✔✔These are often
locations where children, the elderly, and infirm are present (e.g. schools, daycare centers, nursing homes, and hospitals.) Other application sites may be viewed as sensitive because of environmental concerns (e.g., wetlands, rare habitats, or areas where endangered species are present).
Explain how site history can inform a pest management decision. ✔✔It is extremely important to
record and evaluate the results of your control strategies worked, their impact on the environment, an dhow they might be improved before implementing them again.
List factors that can cause pesticide applications to fail. ✔✔Pesticide applications occasionally
fail to control the target pest(s). Sometimes this is due to pest misidentification, leading to a wrong choice of pesticide product. More commonly, an appropriate pesticide is chosen for the treatment, but it is applied at the wrong time (e.g., the pest was in a developmental stage or in a location where it was not susceptible to the pesticide). However, in some situations pesticide treatments are unsuccessful because pesticide resistance has developed in the pest population.
Define pesticide resistance. ✔✔Pesticide resistance refers to the ability of an insect, fungus, weed, rodent, or other pest to tolerate a pesticide that once controlled it. Resistance develops because intensive pesticide that once controlled it. Resistance develops because intensive
pesticide use kills the susceptible individuals in a population, leaving only the resistant ones to reproduce. Initially, higher labeled rates and more frequent applications are needed to control resistant pests. Eventually, however, the pesticide will have little or no effect on the pest population.
