Simple-but-sound methods for estimating the value of changes in biodiversity for biological pest control in agriculture

Letourneau, Deborah K.; Ando, Amy W.; Jedlicka, Julie A.; Narwani, Anita; Barbier, Edward B.

doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.10.015

Cited by 21 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(63 reference statements)

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“…Profit is one fundamental aspect in the judgement. However, to our knowledge, little literature is available which estimates the influence of natural enemies on crop yield or net profits, especially for large scale field crops by conventional or IPM farmers [104,105], and none has focused on oilseed rape, partly because of the difficulty of conducting field experiments. More research is needed to estimate the economic value of this important service provided by natural enemies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arthropod Pest Control for UK Oilseed Rape – Comparing Insecticide Efficacies, Side Effects and Alternatives

et al. 2017

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Oilseed rape (Brassica napus) is an important combinable break crop in the UK, which is largely protected from arthropod pests by insecticidal chemicals. Despite ongoing debate regarding the use of neonicotinoids, the dominant seed treatment ingredients used for this crop, there is little publicly available data comparing the efficacy of insecticides in controlling key arthropod pests or comparing the impacts on non-target species and the wider environment. To provide an insight into these matters, a UK-wide expert survey targeting agronomists and entomologists was conducted from March to June 2015. Based on the opinions of 90 respondents, an average of 20% yield loss caused by the key arthropod pests was expected to have occurred in the absence of insecticide treatments. Relatively older chemical groups were perceived to have lower efficacy for target pests than newer ones, partly due to the development of insecticide resistance. Without neonicotinoid seed treatments, a lack of good control for cabbage stem flea beetle was perceived. Wide spectrum foliar insecticide sprays were perceived to have significantly greater negative impacts than seed treatments on users’ health, natural enemies, pollinators, soil and water, and many foliar active ingredients have had potential risks for non-target arthropod species in UK oilseed rape fields for the past 25 years. Overall, 72% of respondents opposed the neonicotinoid restriction, while 10% supported it. Opposition and support of the restriction were largely based on concerns for pollinators and the wider environment, highlighting the uncertainty over the side effects of neonicotinoid use. More people from the government and research institutes leaned towards neutrality over the issue, compared to those directly involved in growing the crop. Neonicotinoid restriction was expected to result in greater effort and expenditure on pest control and lower production (0–1 t/ha less). Alternatives for future oilseed rape protection were then discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arthropod Pest Control for UK Oilseed Rape – Comparing Insecticide Efficacies, Side Effects and Alternatives

et al. 2017

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“…Thus the economic surplus will fall (A+B+D) and the difference in economic surplus with and without natural pest control can be identified (C+E), capturing the value of this ecosystem service (Alston et al, 1998;Letourneau et al, 2015).…”

Section: Overview Of Economic Surplus Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, few evaluations have been conducted on the wheat-grain aphid system (Porter et al, 2009), and to our knowledge, none on any crop-pest system within the UK context. By expanding upon the economic surplus model developed by Letourneau et al (2015), this study estimates the economic value of natural pest control of the summer grain aphid damage in UK wheat, while accounting for the influence of different intensities of insecticide input and levels of pest infestation. In particular, the potential contribution of the economic threshold-based method towards the value of natural pest control is analysed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic valuation of natural pest control of the summer grain aphid in wheat in South East England

et al. 2018

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Wheat (Triticum spp.) is the most important arable crop grown in the UK, and the grain aphid (Sitobion avenae) is one of the key pests of this crop. Natural enemies could help suppress grain aphid and reduce unnecessary insecticide inputs, but few studies have estimated the economic value of natural pest control in this crop-pest system, which could help inform effective integrated pest management strategies. Based on a natural enemy exclusion experiment carried out in South East England, this study used an economic surplus model to estimate the value of predators and parasitoids to control summer grain aphid in wheat in this region. Incorporating three levels of spray intensity and three levels of pest infestation, the annual economic value of natural pest control service was conservatively estimated to be £0-2.3 Million. Under the medium pest infestation level, a 10% increase in the proportion of wheat fields using economic threshold-based spray method would increase this value by 23% (£0.4 Million). 71% of the value would benefit wheat growers. A potential rise in insecticide costs due to resistance development would also enhance the value of natural pest control. These findings support growing efforts from policy-makers to promote this ecosystem service in agriculture.

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“…As an ecosystem service, this is provided by wild, free-living organisms such as the community of natural enemies-predators, parasites or parasitoids (Letourneau et al 2009;Griffin et al 2013). The natural pest regulation service has been valued at $4.5 billion per year for the United States (Losey and Vaughan 2006), at $68-200 ha -1 year -1 on organic farms, but $0 ha -1 year -1 in conventional farming systems (Sandhu et al 2015), or between $1.5 and $12 million in just the cucumber and squash fields of the US states of Georgia and South Carolina (Letourneau et al 2015).…”

Section: Systemaɵc Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

What works in conservation? Using expert assessment of summarised evidence to identify practices that enhance natural pest control in agriculture

et al. 2016

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This paper documents an exercise to synthesize and assess the best available scientific knowledge on the effectiveness of different farm practices at enhancing natural pest regulation in agriculture. It demonstrates a novel combination of three approaches to evidence synthesis-systematic literature search, collated synopsis and evidence assessment using an expert panel. These approaches follow a logical sequence moving from a large volume of disparate evidence to a simple, easily understandable answer for use in policy or practice. The example of natural pest regulation in agriculture was selected as a case study within two independent science-policy interface projects, one European and one British. A third funder, a private business, supported the final stage to translate the synthesized findings into a useful, simplified output for agronomists. As a whole, the case Communicated by Stefan Schindler. This is part of the special issue on Networking Biodiversity Knowledge.Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article

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Simple-but-sound methods for estimating the value of changes in biodiversity for biological pest control in agriculture

Cited by 21 publications

References 40 publications

Arthropod Pest Control for UK Oilseed Rape – Comparing Insecticide Efficacies, Side Effects and Alternatives

Arthropod Pest Control for UK Oilseed Rape – Comparing Insecticide Efficacies, Side Effects and Alternatives

Economic valuation of natural pest control of the summer grain aphid in wheat in South East England

What works in conservation? Using expert assessment of summarised evidence to identify practices that enhance natural pest control in agriculture

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