Integrated Pest Management

Radcliffe’s IPM World Textbook lists the definition of Integrated Pest Management as follows:
Integrated pest management can be defined as the practice of preventing or suppressing
damaging populations of insect pests by application of the comprehensive and
coordinated integration of multiple control tactics. Tactics are the various
control methodologies, e.g., chemical, biological, cultural. Strategies are the
planned manipulations undertaken to optimize the dynamic integration of control
methodologies in the context of their economic, environmental and social
consequences. The philosophy is holistic, but deeply rooted in applied ecology.
As a society, we are finally identifying the connections and the necessity of viewing systems as a whole.  There is scarcely one “quick” fix to a problem that doesn’t somehow effect other pieces of the system.  One can view recent changes in health care, where consumers and physicians are investigating and enlisting preventative healthcare measures, such as diet and exercise, instead of quickly treating the symptoms with the prescription pad. Often times, the never ending litany of side effects of attached to prescription medications outweigh the benefits of using it.  We can use this analogy to recognize the
universal importance of utilizing Integrated Pest Management at all tiers of pest management.

For the Do It Yourself pest control person, integrated pest management is a viable and feasible tactic when illuminated
appropriately.  Initially, it is easy to be overwhelmed at the concept of a multi layered approach to pest management,
but as you will witness, IPM will likely result in additional savings of time and resources for you. Let us review the steps in an appropriate IPM protocol.  They are monitoring, action threshold, control technique selection, and control tactics.

1. Monitoring: For the DIY pest controller, what this means
   is repeatedly reviewing your home and yard for changes.  If you notice changes in your environment,
   pay attention and take notes.  Do you see a new insect, changes in foliage color or texture, odors in your home,
   etc?  Have a base line for normal so that you are aware of variances.  Take photos with your mobile phone to assure positive identification of any new pests.
2. Action Threshold: Pertinent to the specific pest control situation that you are managing, the action threshold is the level of damage that is acceptable before active steps are taken towards addressing the situation.  This is extremely dependent on the pest and the commodity that you are protecting.  For example, common black ants scattered a certain distance from your home maybe readily acceptable, but your action threshold is met once they are one to two feet outside of your home.
3. Control Technique Selection: When a pest problem goes beyond its set threshold, the DIY pest
   controller should choose the appropriate pest control action based on the following guidelines:

• a. least hazardous to the applicator
• b. least hazardous to the public and the
  environment
• c. cost-effectiveness in the short and
  long-term
• d. least hazardous to non-target organisms

1. Control tactics: The three available methods of control tactics can be distinguished as follows: cultural,
   biological, and chemical controls. Our first steps should include cultural and biological, with our last alternative being chemical controls.

Things That Bug Me blog will do additional posts concerning IPM and what constitutes
appropriate levels of control under the preceding topics.