Envisioning the Future of Conservation Biological Control in Crop Protection
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Pest and Disease Management".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 May 2023) | Viewed by 1700
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Broad-spectrum chemical pesticides are often toxic to nontarget beneficial and endangered species, to wildlife, and to humans. Many chemical pesticides are no longer available due to their side-effects and registration revocations. Biological control, particularly conservation biological control, can be an extremely important alternative to widespread pesticide use as well as a significant component of sustainable agriculture. The goal of this Special Issue is to publish original research and review articles on theories and technologies of conservation biological control in plant protection. We will highlight current research on the conservation of natural enemies to demonstrate its potential and utility in pest management scenarios. The main scope includes the innovative tactics and approaches to manipulating the environment of natural enemies so as to enhance their survival and/or physiological and behavioral performance, resulting in enhanced effectiveness against arthropods, plant pathogens, nematodes, and weeds. Theory and technology of pest control by manipulating environmental conditions to improve genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity to enhance natural enemy performance. We welcome papers describing the tactics and approaches for the conservation of biological control species effective against arthropods, plant pathogens, nematodes, and weeds.
Prof. Dr. Wang-Peng Shi
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- natural enemy conservation
- environment–natural enemy–pest interactions
- biodiversity and pest control
- landscape ecology and pest management
- agroecosystems and conservation biological control
- enhanced biocontrol
