Thurman, Jessa H., Crowder, David W., and Northfield, Tobin D. (2017) Biological control agents in the Anthropocene: current risks and future options. Current Opinion in Insect Science, 23. pp. 59-64.

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Abstract

Global climate change is often expected to disrupt biological control. Predicting the effects of climate change on biological control, and identifying natural enemies that will thrive in future climate scenarios, is thus essential to ensure agricultural sustainability. To promote biological control under climate change, land managers should prioritize the conservation of natural enemy diversity to ensure some effective natural enemies are always present despite often-unpredictable climate scenarios. In addition, ecophysiological and habitat domain models should be combined to predict climate change-induced shifts in predation by diverse predator communities. Finally, insights from land managers during extreme weather events, such as droughts and heat waves, may be invaluable in the effort to identify key biological control agents for future scenarios.

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