Grasshoppers in agrosystems: Pest or food?
Por:
Cerritos R.
Publicada:
1 ene 2011
Resumen:
Each year, a large number of grasshopper species invade agrosystems worldwide, causing major economic losses and damages. Chemical and biological methods are used for controlling the population size of these species; however, the efficiency of these control methods is limited, as they usually lead to an increase in the size of the population, and they also cause drastic ecological damage. The ecological consequences that these control methods have on the environment are large and sometimes irreversible. An ideal alternative method for the control of these species is mechanical capture, where the removal of this biomass of insects can be used as human food, particularly because grasshoppers are edible and have a high nutritional value. This paper suggests a different strategy for the management of endemic pest species, as opposed to introduced pest species. With endemic species, it is necessary to simply reduce the population size; however, introduced species should be completely eliminated from agrosystems. This review discusses the advantages that the management strategy suggested here might have from an ecological, social and economic perspective. The central idea is to view these species as potentially sustainable resources for feeding human populations and not as pests. © CAB International 2009.
Filiaciones:
Cerritos R.:
Department of Zoology, ENCB, National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), México City, 11340, Mexico
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