NATURE WARS III

ISS 310 Spring 2002 Prof. Alan Rudy Tuesday, April 23 Chapters 7 & 8

Questions? Main Points?

Ch.7: Bees and Other Beneficials Moving pollinating bees, not for honey, but to make

fruit and vegetable production possible. Not necessary until 20th C…

before: plenty of species of native bees coevolved with local plant species and crops… 5000 species in N. Am.Monocropping and pesticides have radically reduced wild bee populations and necessitated managed bee industrialization.

Rather than change agriculture to foster and enhance feral bee populations and activity, we went with scientific management. -- remember Vancouver urban planning?

Ch.7: Bees and Other Beneficials II Only recently have environmentalists begun to take

notice of this kind of environmental concern. Keys:

PesticidesMonocroppingHabitat DestructionHigh Managed Bee Populations

Honey Bee introduced for honey, adapted to pollination.

Honey Bee populations devastated first by the European tracheal mite and then the Asian varroa mite – each accidentally introduced.

Ch.7: Bees and Other Beneficials III Importation/xenotransplanted species often

generate real bad pest problems

PARASITORY AND PREDATORY PEST CONTROL INSECTS

“If there ever was a ‘balance of nature,’ we have eliminated it, and much of contemporary agriculture is designed to restore the balance through management…” (122)

Ch.7: Bees and Other Beneficials IV

Imported pests have led to imported pest control insects.

Imported plant pests have also occurred and done damage – sometimes successfully address with imported “natural” biological controls.

Know Winston’s account of C.V. Riley, citrus scale and Australian beetles.

Ch.7: Bees and Other Beneficials V Greatest experimentation with biological control from

1900-1945, the pesticides doom most plans by killing not only pests but also natural killers.

Major natural killers:wasps

mites

nematodes

fish

beetles

bacteria

fungi

viruses

Ch.7: Bees and Other Beneficials VI

St. Johns Wort (Klamath weed) infestation treated successfully with beetles.

Post-WWII: DECLINE IN NATURAL ENEMIES RESEARCH Rooted largely in pesticide applications – often led to

more/new/worse pest outbreaks then before. No private industry doing this because of limited

profitability – also “nature” takes over while, with pesticides folks with pest problems always have to come back to the commercial well (foreshadowing biotech.)

Only major markets are greenhouses.

Ch.7: Bees and Other Beneficials VII APPLIED BIO-NOMICS Small, elite private business in snooty retirement

area of Vancouver Island. Issues of complexity of, poorly thought out, and

over-regulation of natural enemies industry.

“What we have lost is nature.” (139)

Ch. 8: FRANKENSTEIN PLANTSCh. 8: FRANKENSTEIN PLANTS GMOs: mixing and matching genes recombinantly

or transgenically. who do you trust, scientists, activists, or

regulators (or….) “miracle cures come with a price.” This stuff IS different than breeders who have to

work with very closely related crops and animals Natural plant resistance co-evolved with pests

over millenia – biotech works in 5 year increments.

Ch. 8: FRANKENSTEIN PLANTS IICh. 8: FRANKENSTEIN PLANTS II Winston claims close, intensive, and well-regulated

tests indicate that the things developed so far are pretty safe.

Toxin-producing plantsPlants with herbicide resistance– resist herbicide binding.– overproduce protein herbicide destroys– produce enzymes to degrade/digest herbicide

Major public-private collaborations and competitions for research moneys/patents (newly legal).

Ch. 8: FRANKENSTEIN PLANTS III Critics:

human health risks from consumption

genes jumping from crops to weeds

increased herbicide use

accelerated pest resistance

Regulatory agency strictness but reasonablenessNo labeling of consumption goods.

Beware allergies – one caught already.

Ch. 8: FRANKENSTEIN PLANTS IVCh. 8: FRANKENSTEIN PLANTS IV

Real worriesgene jumpingincreased herbicide useresistance– too effective, boom resistance– who’s going to regulate/enforce “refuges?”– already happening – Bt cotton

Fred Gould, NCSU

CONCLUSIONCONCLUSION HERE’S THE DEAL: THERE IS NOT DISCUSSION OF THE SOCIAL

CONSEQUENCES OF THIS TECHNOLOGY (esp. around TERMINATOR technology).

The only issues are environmental- and health-related… what social consequences of environmentalism and public health advocacy in Gary, IN?