 |  Environmental Science: A Global Concern, 7/e William P. Cunningham,
University of Minnesota
Mary Ann Cunningham,
Vassar College
Barbara Woodworth Saigo,
St. Cloud State University
Pest Control
Chapter OverviewSince all living things are like humans in their need for food, it should come as no surprise that many of them like to eat the same foods we do. Organisms that compete with us for food can be called pests. Given the expense of raising food and the growing numbers of human mouths to feed, these pests cannot be, and have not been, ignored. In fact, in recent times we have taken up chemical warfare against them.
This chapter reveals that this escalation into intensive use of pesticides is not without its costs: costs to a lot of nonpest species and costs in our ability to fend off the pests themselves.
There are exciting changes afoot—alternatives to chemical warfare that promise to help us hold our own against the pests but to do so in a sustainable way.
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2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education