05-16-2009, 02:45 AM
From:
http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/topics/biocontr...trol.shtml
Safety of Biocontrol
There is a natural tendency to confuse disastrous introductions of the past with contemporary biocontrol efforts. The introduction of mongooses to Hawaii in the 1800s by a private landowner, for example, is not at all representative of the modern practice of biocontrol--it occurred without the extensive scientific and regulatory reviews that are central to today's biocontrol programs.
For an organism to even be considered a potential biocontrol agent today, it must first be proven to be highly host-specific, meaning it affects only a single host species or a very narrow range of species. For this reason, an animal like the mongoose, which preys on a wide variety of species, would never be used as a biocontrol agent.
Before a proposed agent is considered for release, it is subjected to rigorous laboratory and field studies in both its native range and the area in which it is invasive. These studies establish the agent's suitability for biocontrol by demonstrating that it is effective against the target invasive and poses no threat to other plants in the area.
http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/topics/biocontr...trol.shtml
Safety of Biocontrol
There is a natural tendency to confuse disastrous introductions of the past with contemporary biocontrol efforts. The introduction of mongooses to Hawaii in the 1800s by a private landowner, for example, is not at all representative of the modern practice of biocontrol--it occurred without the extensive scientific and regulatory reviews that are central to today's biocontrol programs.
For an organism to even be considered a potential biocontrol agent today, it must first be proven to be highly host-specific, meaning it affects only a single host species or a very narrow range of species. For this reason, an animal like the mongoose, which preys on a wide variety of species, would never be used as a biocontrol agent.
Before a proposed agent is considered for release, it is subjected to rigorous laboratory and field studies in both its native range and the area in which it is invasive. These studies establish the agent's suitability for biocontrol by demonstrating that it is effective against the target invasive and poses no threat to other plants in the area.