“Knowing your enemy, through monitoring, is important in planning control interventions and serves as a foundation for effective and appropriate pest management,” says Prof. Toby Bruce of Keele University.
Insect pests remain a major threat to global crop production due to their ability to inflict severe damage on crop yields. Because of this, early identification and monitoring of pests is critical to the success of integrated pest management (IPM) programmes and the prevention of invasive insect pests entering new environments – a problem massively exacerbated by climate change.
A new book published by Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing promises to be the ‘go-to’ reference for those studying the sampling, identification, and modelling of native and invasive pest populations.
‘Advances in monitoring of native and invasive insect pests of crops’ reviews the wealth of research on implementable techniques to monitor, and thus prevent, potential threats from both native and invasive insect pests. “Literature is rife with sampling procedures for sizing up pest problems. Few, however, focus on what each technique detects and measures, nor its genuine utility,” says Michael E. Irwin, Emeritus Professor at the University of Arizona, USA. This new book, edited by Dr Michelle Fountain and Dr Tom Pope, addresses these very concerns in a comprehensive manner. This book is a gem.” he adds.
Much discussion has been had on the contribution of agriculture to climate change and the need to develop more sustainable production systems. However, in this book the editors have taken a different approach, choosing instead to highlight the impact of climate change on agriculture. “As a result of climate change, we’re now seeing populations of non-native and invasive pests appear in environments where they previously haven’t [been] before,” says Francis Dodds, Editorial Director at Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing. “We can’t reverse the consequences of climate change, however what we can do is develop systems and technologies equipped with the ability to identify and monitor these pests that significantly threaten global food production,” he adds.
As well as exploring the variety of phytosanitary measures available to prevent the introduction of invasive insect species, the book also details the importance of sampling and monitoring, and risk assessment techniques, as well as the potential economic impact of invasive crop pests.
“We’re delighted to have Dr Michelle Fountain return to edit her second book with us and to have such a globally recognised expert in Dr Tom Pope editing it alongside her,” says Rob Burleigh, Managing Director at Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing. “This book will be a great addition to the libraries and personal collections of all involved and interested in entomology,” he concludes.
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