Question

Describe biological control.

Answer 1

Biological control is a component of an integrated pest management strategy.

An example of biological control is the release of parasitic wasps to control aphids.

Advantages of Biological Control:  Biological control is a very specific strategy. The vast majority of the time, whatever predator is introduced will only control the population of the pest they are meant to target, making it a green alternative to chemical or mechanical control methods. For example, whereas weed killing chemicals can also destroy fruit-bearing plants, biological control allows the fruit to be left uninterrupted while the weeds are destroyed.

Natural enemies introduced to the environment are capable of sustaining themselves, often by reducing whatever pest population they are supposed to manage. This means that after the initial introduction, very little effort is required to keep the system running fluidly. It also means that biological control can be kept in place for a much longer time than other methods of pest control.

Disadvantages of Biological Control:  Biological control can be fickle. Ultimately, you can't control whatever natural enemy you set loose in an ecosystem. While it's supposed to manage one pest, there is always the possibility that your predator will switch to a different target - they might decide eating your crops instead of the insects infesting them is a better plan! Not only that, but in introducing a new species to an environment, there runs the risk of disrupting the natural food chain.

It's a slow process. It takes a lot of time and patience for the biological agents to work their magic on a pest population, whereas other methods like pesticides work provide immediate results. The upside to this is the long-term effect biological control provides.

this took me a while so i hope it helps!