Pros and Cons of Biological Control

This chapter will briefly review the positive aspects of biological control and will highlight a few examples. It will further review negative aspects of biological control introductions. One of the examples where biological control led to detrimental environmental effects was the introduction of the ladybeetle Harmonia axyridis, and this case will be outlined in more detail. This example will also be used to explore some of the population biology mechanisms which can contribute to the net effects of introduced natural enemies. Finally, some information on recent developments and improvements in risk assessment of biological control agents is provided.