Insecticide use: Contexts and ecological consequences

Abstract

Constraints to the sustainability of insecticide use include effects on human health, agroecosystems (e.g., beneficial insects), the wider environment (e.g., non-target species, landscapes and communities) and the selection of insecticide-resistant traits. It is possible to find examples where insecticides have impacted disastrously on all these variables and others where the hazards posed have been (through accident or design) ameliorated. In this review, we examine what can currently be surmised about the direct and indirect long-term, field impacts of insecticides upon the environment. We detail specific examples, describe current insecticide use patterns, consider the contexts within which insecticide use occurs and discuss the role of regulation and legislation in reducing risk. We consider how insecticide use is changing in response to increasing environmental awareness and inevitably, as we discuss the main constraints to insecticide use, we suggest why they cannot easily be discarded.

Spatial diversification of agroecosystems to enhance biological control and other regulating services: An agroecological perspective

“…the benefits ecosystems can provide to human well-being (Reid et al, 2005). Pesticides are among these external inputs, for which there is evidence of their harmful effects on human health (Mostafalou and Abdollahi, 2013) and the environment (Annett et al, 2014;Devine and Furlong, 2007). Moreover, their efficiency faces pest resistance (Heap, 2014;Thieme et al, 2010) and consumers call for healthier food (Howard and Allen, 2010).…”

Survival, growth, detoxifying and antioxidative responses of earthworms (Eisenia fetida) exposed to soils with industrial DDT contamination

“…There is ample evidence showing that earthworms died and their growth was inhibited by exposure to pesticides such as lindane, deltamethrin and chlorpyrifos etc. [13,31,32].…”

Toward the Development of Novel Long-Term Pest Control Strategies Based on Insect Ecological and Evolutionary Dynamics

“…Pests can grow uncontrollably if their natural enemies are destroyed, or even if pesticides alter their predators' searching and attacking behaviors. This alteration of interactions can cause increases in pests of the same species, or even promote the appearance of new pest species (Metcalf, 1980;Van den Berg et al, 1998;Mochizuki, 2003;Devine & Furlong, 2007). When this happens, additional and often more costly pesticide treatments are needed to avoid losing the crop; thus, it is possible to replace this "free" natural pest-control service, but this becomes highly expensive and environmentally hostile.…”