Usually the goal is prevention or suppression. Eradication is rare in outdoor pest situations. Remember that most living things are NOT pests and are contributing members of the ecosystem. Pesticides should be used only when other options do not work. Physical or mechanical methods include traps, barriers, screens, cultivation, soil solarization and heat treatments. These control pests by interfering with their life cycle or changing their environment.

Prevention

Prevention is the first step in any Pest Control Maryville TN management plan. It involves avoiding what encourages pest invasion, such as good sanitation, removing food and water sources, reducing places for them to hide or breed and fixing leaky pipes. It also includes preventing access to the premises by closing entry points and removing materials they use to gain access, such as low-hanging branches that hang over roofs or open windows. Prevention measures also include reducing areas where moisture collects, which can encourage fungal infections that destroy plants.

Chemical Control

Chemical pest control solutions, such as repellents or insecticides, eliminate pests by attacking them directly with toxins. They are typically easier to find and apply than biological methods, but they can also damage the environment when used incorrectly and pose health and safety risks for those who come into contact with them. They are generally a last resort, used only when prevention and other controls fail.

Biological

The goal of biological control is to replace harmful organisms with beneficial ones. This may be done by planting flowers and other flowering plants that attract natural predators or by encouraging the natural presence of parasitoids and other natural enemies of pests. It can also be done by applying microbial control agents, such as the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis, which kills caterpillars by disrupting their stomach enzymes.

Physical

Other control measures include screens, floating row covers and traps that deter pests by blocking them from reaching the plants they target or exposing them to a physical barrier. Using mulches to reduce weed growth and maintain proper soil temperatures and moisture is also effective. Encouragement of natural predators, such as birds and insects, is another important preventive measure.

Preventive measures should always be followed by monitoring to determine whether the pest population has remained at a tolerable level, or if control is needed. Taking all of the information into account, such as the life cycle and damage of the pest, its natural enemies, and environmental factors, is key to making the right decisions about which methods to use.

Suppression

When prevention fails or pests are already present at unacceptable levels, IPM programs use a combination of management tactics to reduce the population to acceptable levels. Less risky control methods, such as pheromones to disrupt insect mating, sanitation, trapping and weed removal are used first. When these are ineffective or too costly, or when action thresholds have been reached, chemical controls such as the targeted spraying of specific pesticides are employed. Integrated Pest Management is an ecosystem-based strategy, and all control actions must be weighed against the effects they have on nontarget organisms, beneficial insects and the environment.

Identifying the pest helps to determine whether it is a problem that needs to be controlled and when. Monitoring usually involves checking the field, landscape or building to identify the pests, how many are present and what damage they have caused. This information also allows the selection of appropriate control strategies.

In nature, organism populations are often suppressed by parasitoids, predators, diseases and competitors. Collectively known as natural enemies, these organisms reduce or eliminate pests by attacking them directly, disrupting their reproduction or by preventing them from reaching desirable populations. Natural enemies are effective at reducing pest numbers and damaging plants without the use of pesticides.

Because of the dependence of civilization on agriculture, there is a continual need to develop new and improved biological control methods. International man-assisted movements of plant materials and insects continue to bring pests to new areas, where they can be separated from their native natural enemies. This can lead to unintentional eruptions of pest species in new locations. Efforts to augment or introduce natural enemies into these new environments can help to limit these outbreaks. The sterile insect technique (SIT), which uses radiation to sterilize eggs of some pests, is an example of an emerging biological control tactic. Other biological control efforts are attempting to locate and establish natural enemies of some of the most damaging deciduous tree fruit pests, in order to minimize the need for pesticides. This work is particularly important in light of the increasing concern about the negative health and environmental impacts of neonicotinoids and other broad-spectrum chemicals.

Biological Control

Biological control uses natural predators, parasitoids, and pathogens to suppress or destroy pest organisms (insects, mites, weeds, plant diseases) in cropping systems. The goal is to reduce our reliance on synthetic chemical pesticides, which are often less environmentally friendly and more dangerous to human health than naturally occurring organisms. NIFA supports research in this area to increase grower and green industry options for pest management that are more sustainable and operationally flexible.

In many cases, the natural enemies of an insect pest are sufficient to limit its population and keep it below economic thresholds. However, when a pest is introduced into a new geographic region without its natural enemies, or if natural enemy populations are depleted by disease outbreaks or pesticide usage, biological control may be necessary to supplement existing pest management practices.

Biological controls are typically more expensive than chemical controls, but they are less harmful to humans and the environment. Moreover, they are more likely to have long-term effectiveness than pesticides, which can lead to the rapid development of resistance by the target organism.

While there are several ways to implement biological control, the most common is the importation and release of a foreign natural enemy species that is specific to the pest. This is known as classical biological control. It is important to understand that the introduction and release of a new species requires extensive research, to ensure that the selected natural enemy has the potential to achieve its objective (e.g., proper timing in the natural enemy and pest life cycles, the ability to establish in a new habitat) and that there is minimal risk of unintended consequences such as disease outbreaks on other native species, parasitoids or the natural population of the pest itself).

The supplemental release of an existing native or introduced biological agent into the field is known as augmentative biological control. This may involve releasing relatively few natural enemies at a critical time in the pest life cycle (inoculative releases), or it may include mass production and periodic release of thousands or even millions of organisms to overwhelm the target pest population (inundative releases). Inoculative or augmentative releases can be used in conjunction with other pest control strategies such as cropping system modification or use of microbial pesticides like Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and entomopathogenic nematodes.

Environmental Control

The goal of environmental control is to maintain conditions that are not favorable to pests in fields and orchards, landscapes and lawns, buildings, forests and wildlands. Such conditions can prevent pests from developing or spreading, or they can make it difficult for them to survive and grow. These controls can include physical or chemical manipulations of weather, food sources, and the environment around pests. They also may include management of natural enemies (predators, parasites, and diseases) and cultural controls that affect the environment in which pests live and interact.

Accurate identification of a pest is a critical first step in any pest control program. Properly identifying pests helps you know what they look like, how many are present, and what damage they’ve caused. This information will help you decide whether to take action and if so, what actions are needed. It will also help you select the most effective pest control methods and the best time to use them.

Monitoring is the process of regularly checking a field, orchard, garden, landscape, or other area to see what pests are there and how much damage they’re doing. Monitoring should be done before and after pest control measures are taken to evaluate the effectiveness of the methods and monitor for any side effects.

Some pests are continuous and require constant control, while others are sporadic or migratory and only need to be controlled periodically or intermittently. Knowing the life cycle of a pest can help you predict when and how often to control it. It can also help you select the best pesticide, such as one that targets a specific stage in the life cycle or one that disrupts the insect’s hormone system.

Eradication is a rare goal in outdoor pest situations, but it is often attempted when certain organisms are considered to be so harmful that they can’t be tolerated. For example, the goal of eradication is sometimes set for certain bacteria in operating rooms and other sterile areas of health care facilities. Eradication is more common in enclosed indoor spaces, where it can be easier to achieve.