Wildlife pest control

Organic farming and gardening, which do not rely on artificial inputs, cause little pollution. They preserve and enhance landscape features that provide habitats for the wildlife that is vital for pest control. It is little wonder that scientific comparisons consistently rate organic growing as the most sustainable there is. 

Overall, we will need to harvest nearly three times as much farm output in 2050 as we harvest today - and we re already farming half the global land area not under deserts or glaciers. Pest control will remain vital to both people and wildlife. 

With the extensive use of pest control chemicals in agriculture and industry, residues of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been discovered to elicit toxicological effects on aquatic organisms and wildlife. It is well known that these compounds are lipophilic (meaning attraction to fat... 

The introduction in the early 1970 s of the soil-incorporated, water-soluble systemic insecticide/nematicide aldicarb was regarded as a major advance in the technology of pest control. It eliminated the once prevalent hazard of inadvertent exposure of applicators or inhabitants of nearby dwellings, wildlife, and useful insects to toxic chemicals during spraying or aerial application of pesticides. 

The main authority for regulation of pesticides in Canada resides in two Acts of Parliament, the Pest Control Products Act, administered by Agriculture Canada, and the Food and Drugs Act, administered by Health and Welfare Canada. This dichotomy of authority necessitates close cooperation between the two departments. In addition, various other acts address such aspects as water quality, fisheries, wildlife, etc., with respect to pesticides. 

Applications in conservation, pest control, management and breeding of domestic animals, wildlife management, animals as chemical detectors, such as, for example, rats for mine sniffing, will become more numerous and more reliable. 

From 1964, the Secretaries of the Interior and of the Department of Health Education and Welfare provided advice on the questions of undue hazards to fish and wildlife and to human health and, until 1972, the responsibility for pesticide registration resided in the Secretary of Agriculture. The provisions of this Act have changed as it has evolved from the 1947 version. The responsibility for implementing the regulations was transferred from the Secretary of Agriculture to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under the Federal Environment Pest Control Act of 1972 (FEPCA).(5) This Act was basically an amendment of FIFRA. 

Acknowledgment is given to Johnson A. Neff, Biologist, United States Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, for information supplied on control of bird pests. 

Make the garden wildlife-friendly, encouraging birds, insects, and small animals to control pests. 

Pesticides are frequently used to control insects, rodents, weeds, microbes, or fungi. In addition, they help farmers provide an affordable and plentiful food supply. Pesticides are also used in other settings, such as homes and schools, to control pests as common as cockroaches, termites, and mice. Pesticides pose significant risks to human health and the environment, when people do not follow directions on product labels or use products irresponsibly. For example, people might use pesticides when they are not really needed, apply too much, or apply or dispose of them in a manner that could contaminate water or harm wildlife. Even alternative or organic pesticides can have these unintended consequences if not used correctly (EPA, 2003 c). There is abundant scientific evidence of the risks toxic pesticides pose to human health. More worrisome from a public health perspective are chronic health effects such as cancer, infertility, birth defects, miscarriage, and negative effects on the brain and nervous system. 

So why is DDT perceived as such a dangerous chemical In the USA DDT was used extensively after the war for the control of various insect pests. It was used in some cases in much greater quantities than it had been previously, and possibly such quantities were unnecessary. For example, i lb of DDT per acre had been sufficient to eradicate the malarial mosquito from swamps, yet in the control of the bark beetles, which carry Dutch Elm disease, 25 lb per acre were used in the USA for spraying the trees in some cases. The disease was devastating the trees, and perhaps some overkill was understandable, but this use of DDT led to effects on wildlife, with birds being noticeably affected. For example, the population... 

For a product to be registered, the manufacturer is required to provide scientific evidence that the product, when used as directed, (a) will effectively control the pests listed on the label, (b) will not injure humans, crops, livestock, wildlife, or damage the environment, and (c) will not result in illegal residues in food or feed. 

The tremendous achievements which have been accomplished by the judicious use of pesticides in increased world-wide food production and the control of vector-bome diseases are very evident. In addition, pesticidal materials contribute to the effective control of undesirable species of pests including insects, plants, bacteria, fungi, etc., and assist in the nutrition, growth, and reproduction of certain desirable species. However, because of widespread use in these applications, pesticides have proliferated intensely in the biosphere and thus have significantly contributed to problems of environmental pollution. For example, the effects of these chemicals on public health and the survival of species of fish and wildlife are two specific areas of critical concern. The attention which has been focused in recent years on the occiurence of residues of pesticides and their metabohtes, as well as other industrially significant chemicals in the environment, is demonstrated by the numerous reports of various official and unofficial committees of inquiry which have considered this problem and have reported the results of large numbers of assays of pesticide residues in such diverse substrates as human and animal tissues, food, plants, water, soil, and air. 

Comparison of Characteristic Aspects of Controlling Wildlife Pathogens or Crop Pests, and of Potentials of Ecological Modeling in These Two Fields of Application... 

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