Effects of pesticides on the population ecology of polyphagous predators.

Abstract

The factors affecting within-season, field-scale and long-term, regional impacts of pesticides on polyphagous predator populations are reviewed, and methodological problems identified. It is concluded that the effects of pesticides (and other farming and land use operations) cannot be adequately interpreted or predicted without a knowledge of the dynamics of populations and metapopulations in agricultural systems; in the main, this information is currently lacking. Investigation of long-term effects on populations of highly dispersive predators may require extensive monitoring studies carried out over many years.