Integrated nursery pest management

Abstract

What is integrated pest management? Take a look at the definition of each word to better understand the concept. Two of the words (integrated and management) are relatively straightforward. Integrated means to blend pieces or concepts into a unified whole, and management is the wise use of techniques to successfully accomplish a desired outcome. A pest is any biotic (biological) stress factor that interferes with healthy seedling development and causes a sustained departure from the normal physiological or morphological condition that characterizes a healthy seedling. So pests can be microorganisms (for example, fungi, bacteria, viruses), weeds, and animals (for example, insects, nematodes, rodents, deer, and a wellmeaning, but inept-tractor operator or chemigator). Therefore, integrated pest management (IPM) incorporates a variety of techniques to limit losses caused by a variety of biotic stresses to successfully produce a healthy seedling crop.

Parent Publication

• Forest nursery pests

Citation

Dumroese, R. Kasten. 2012. Integrated nursery pest management. In: Cram, Michelle M.; Frank, Michelle S.; Mallams, Katy M., tech. coords. Forest nursery pests. Agriculture Handbook 680 rev. 2012. Washington, DC: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. p. 5-12.