NATURE WARS ISS 310 Spring 2000 Prof Alan Rudy 4 18 00 Questions Main Points Preface We are an ambiguous species living simultaneously in and outside of nature vii We have allowed our sense of dominion over the rest of the earth to justify remodeling the globe to suit our needs viii How would Cronon or Hurley respond to this last quote How about this next one our self interest is gradually forcing us to develop a perspective of stewardship rather than dominion if we wish to survive viii Preface II I expected to find a rapidly diminishing use of pesticides I was surprised to discover that most biologically based methods remain at the fringes of pest management in the realm of potential but unproven techniques ix He says he wants to find out why such techniques remain underdeveloped Why do you think they would be underdeveloped Ch 1 A Pestiferous World How does he say we define pests Those which compete with us for food shelter try and eat us and or feed in or on us Our human activities have exacerbated pest situations far beyond their natural significance how our attempts at dominion over nature have backfired 1 What other examples do you know of A Pestiferous World II survival driven need to control pests 2 Eradicate or Reduce population levels We make pests of previously innocuous species Pests become resistant Has led to an escalating chemical arms race WHAT IS THE MOST RECENT ESCALATION Core paradox Our pest control strategies damage us as often as they control pests Do they damage us equally do you think A Pestiferous World III Section Two pests and human history Agriculture and Urbanism concentrate humans human artifacts and wastes and pests simplified ecologies with complex intertwined systems of mutual relations and control some species dominate in ways they couldn t before A Pestiferous World IV Section Three the history of pesticides 1700s renewed intensive agriculture fertilizer monocropping machinery chemicals combined with colonialism most fertilizer guano was mined in colonies many many new pests and pest vectored diseases were introduced at home and abroad as a result with agroecological simplification The military developed many pesticides to control barrack and personal hygiene DDT dusting A Pestiferous World V Section four contemporary background Rachel Carson Silent Spring DDT In favor of Integrated Pest Management and science as opposed to profit based chemical applications in the name of pest management Carson was the first hysterical woman of the environmental movement DESPITE HER SCIENTIFIC CREDENTIALS AND RESEARCH All she wanted was complete multiple level science done BEFORE applications this sounds like A Pestiferous World VI Our ability to control the harmful side of science had has not kept pace with the potential of science and technology to improve human life and protect the environment 11 A Pestiferous World VII Section five contemporary state of the problem 1 1 billion pounds in US year 4 5 billion world year We use 1 4 of all pesticides IN THE US 4 pounds person year 8 5 billion year Chemical pesticides INCREASE pests by killing all natural predators encouraging resistant strains to develop A Pestiferous World VII Pimentel Data on pp 12 13 700 million annual health costs 30 million animal product costs 1 8 billion in groundwater monitoring cleanup 67 million birds 6 14 million fish Pesticides powerful un natural selection agent Resistant insects plant pathogens weeds nematodes rodents and parasites Natural predators parasites super susceptible Wipe out pests predators new pests explode A Pestiferous World VIII Section six alternatives Integrated Pest Management hampered by commitment to pesticides anti pest psychology short term profitability complexity and time space specificity of IPM inattention to downstream social and ecological effects Finally issues of who you trust is your faith in environmentalists or scientists or the government or chemical companies Ch 2 The Gypsy Moth Big controversy over Bt spraying for European moth from the east and Asian moth from Russia to the west in Vancouver BC Moth introduced accidentally to North American by French naturalist Trouvelot in Mass in the 1880s they ll eat almost anything green The Gypsy Moth II 19th C Massachusetts Manual removal roadblock inspections and fire strategies followed by state federal legislation and the new chemicals Arsenicals copper Paris Green and lead arsenate 5 7 year population explosions collapses The government Commission then responded to the outcry by producing bulletins and distributing handouts containing information about the sprays especially quotes from the experts assuring the public as to the lack of danger to man or beast attending to the chemicals What era is Winston referring to What does this sound like The Gypsy Moth III Gypsy moth boom and bust not only led to the first eminent domain law we can enter your private property to eradicate a pest but also the first plant quarantine law Later after WWII DDT Dimilin and Carbaryl before Bt Bacillus thuringiensis arrives with organic agriculture in the 1970s 80s Vancouver Again Large scale monitoring Trade sanction constraints US forest import regulations Difference between claims associated with eradication program and control program re trade The Gypsy Moth IV Bt the most recognized heavily tested successful and safe alternative to synthetic chemical pesticides 31 bacterial spores attack lepidopterous insect guts The public had good reason not to trust gov t insect spray programs even though in this case human health issues were really unlikely Key opponents make the majority of the noise The Gypsy Moth V Ag Canada has success when Nancy Argyle convinces scientists that their communicative strategies PRODUCE distrust Openness to the strong questions however unscientific from the public and media the key These days Vancouver is using tighter Inspection Monitoring trapping needn t generate spraying Localized spraying NOT MENTIONED Bt resistance and these days biotechnologically produced Bt plants CONCLUSION WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM WINSTON S DISCUSSION OF PESTIFEROUSNESS AND THE GYPSY MOTH