Grasshoppers and Grassland Health

An exploration of the environmental and economic costs and benefits of acridids (grasshoppers and locusts) both as essential ecological components and as serious grassland pests. Using a risk analysis approach to examine the ecological role of acridids and the effect of controlling these insects, the authors assess our current understanding of the grasshopper-grassland relationship. They also propose new directions for research and management in acridology and ecology that are consistent with developing a more economically productive and environmentally sustainable human presence on the world's grasslands. The integration of ecological, agricultural, economic, political and cultural perspectives brings into focus the enormous complexity of managing native insect populations in natural ecosystems. This general survey is supported by individual chapters devoted to particularly relevant and contemporary studies of grasshopper and locust ecology, pest management and conservation.