Credit hours
In-class work per week |
Practice per week |
Credits |
Duration |
Total |
2 |
2 |
8 |
15 weeks |
120 hours |
Instructor
José Roberto Postali Parra
Lessando Moreira Gontijo
Objective
Train and prepare graduate students by developing professional skills essential for the effective planning and implementation of biological control of agricultural pests. The course covers fundamental concepts and practical applications of the major types of biological control—augmentative, conservation, and classical—aiming to support more sustainable pest management strategies grounded in ecological principles.
Content
(I) Introduction: History, Defining terms, Types of natural enemies, Types of biological control, Principles of predator-prey and parasitoid-host interactions; (II) Classical Biological Control: Exploration in exotic regions, Assessment of climate matching, Identification of natural enemies with potential for importation, Importation of natural enemies, Assessment of the non-target effect of imported natural enemies, Classical biological control of weeds. (III) Conservation Biological Control: Conservation of functional diversity, Habitat management to attract and conserve natural enemies, Use of banker plants in agricultural settings, Conservation of natural enemies through ecological and physiological pesticide selectivity, Compatibility between transgenic plants and natural enemies; (IV) Augmentative Biological Control: Generalist vs. specialist natural enemies, Artificial breeding of natural enemies, Mass rearing and release of natural enemies, Biological control in greenhouses and open fields, Assessment of natural enemies after field release.
Bibliography
Barbosa, P. (1998) Conservation Biological Control. 1st Ed. Academic Press: San Diego, 396p.
Brodeur, J., Boivin, G. (2006) Trophic and Guild interactions in Biological Control. 1st Ed. Springer: Dordrecht, 241p.
Fontes, E.M.G., Valadares-Inglis, M.C. (Eds.) (2020) Controle Biológico de Pragas da Agricultura. Primeira Edição. Embrapa: Brasília, DF, 510p.
Gurr, G.M., Wratten, S.D., Altieri, M.A. (2004) Ecological Engineering for Pest Management: Advances in Habitat Manipulation for Arthropods. SCIRO PUBLISHING: Collingwood, 225p.
Heimpel, G.E., Mills, N.J. (2017) Biological Control: Ecology and Applications,1st Ed. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, 386p.
Hardy, I.C.W., Wajnberg, E. (2023) Jervis's Insects as Natural Enemies: A Practical Perspective. 3rd Ed. Springer: Switzerland. 751p.
Parra J.R.P., Pinto, A.S., Nava, D.E., Oliveira, R.C., Diniz, A.J.F. (2021) Controle Biológico com Parasitoides e Predadores na Agricultura Brasileira, Primeira Edição, Fealq: Piracicaba, SP, 592p.
Parra, J.R.P., Botelho, P.S.M., Correa-Ferreira, B.S., Bento, J.M.S. (2002) Controle Biológico no Brasil: Parasitóides e Predadores. Manole: São Paulo, 635p.
Pickett, C.H., Bugg, R. L. (1998) Enhancing Biological Control: Habitat Management to Promote Natural Enemies of Agricultural Pests. 1st Ed. University of California Press: Berkeley, 422p.
Van Driesch, R., Hoddle, M., Center, T. (2008) Control of Pests and Weeds by Natural Enemies: An Introduction to Biological Control. 1st Ed. Blackwell: Oxford, 473p.
Van Driesch, R., Bellows Jr., T.S. (1996) Biological Control. 1st Ed. Kluwer Academic Publishers: Massachusetts, 539p.