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Social and Behavioral Sciences

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University of Northern Iowa

Biological control

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Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Science and Mathematics Education

Purple Loosestrife: History, Management, And Biological Control In Iowa, Amy P. Wiebe, John J. Obrycki Dec 2001

Purple Loosestrife: History, Management, And Biological Control In Iowa, Amy P. Wiebe, John J. Obrycki

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is an invasive plant species infesting wetlands in North America. Biodiversity and wetland habitat quality are reduced following purple loosestrife establishment. Several management tactics, including cultural, mechanical, and chemical controls, have had limited success in reducing the spread of purple loosestrife. Beginning in the 1990s, a biological control program has introduced several species of natural enemies from Europe that feed on purple loosestrife. Since 1994, Iowa State University has reared and released two species of beetles that feed on purple loosestrife, Galerucella calmariensis and G. pusilla. Biological control is one component of an integrated purple loosestrife …


Leafy Spurge (Euphorbia Esula L.) Spread In Iowa, S. C. Huerd, S. E. Taylor Jan 1998

Leafy Spurge (Euphorbia Esula L.) Spread In Iowa, S. C. Huerd, S. E. Taylor

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.), a noxious perennial weed spreading south from the northern Great Plains into Iowa, is considered a threat to Iowa's Prairie preserves because it is an aggressive non-native plant that dominates the landscape through rapid sexual and asexual reproduction. Methods to control leafy spurge include cultural and chemical controls, and biological controls are currently being developed. In 1992 and 1993 we surveyed the extent of leafy spurge spread in Iowa and found 26 of 99 Iowa counties with leafy spurge populations. Iowa's leafy spurge populations are rapidly expanding on untilled lands such as roadsides, especially in …


Biological Pesticides: Biotechnology's Answer To Silent Spring, Donald H. Dean Jan 1989

Biological Pesticides: Biotechnology's Answer To Silent Spring, Donald H. Dean

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

In the 25 years since the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring the public has come to realize the environmental impact of heavy use of chemical pesticides. To add insult to injury, many insects, including the disease vector, the mosquito, are now virtually resistant to standard chemical pesticides. Biotechnology is now providing a positive response to these dilemmas through the production and development of improved forms of microbial pest control agents: biological pesticides. Biological pesticides are pathogens, or predators, of insects such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses, and predatory insects or vertebrates such as mosquito fish which reduce the population …