Possibilities and Limitations in Biological Control of Weeds

This contribution defines biological weed control as the attempt to reduce the competitivity of a weed and to stabilize it at low population levels with the aid of herbivorous organisms or phytopathogens. The main factors involved in the process of biological weed control are discussed. Biological weed control is compared to conventional control measures and its advantages as well as its limitations are studied. As a consequence of the interactions between a weed, its control agents and the environment, there are only relatively few weed species and weed situations in Europe which are promising targets for biological control programs. Some of these are discussed in the concluding chapter; they refer to Solidago, Ambrosia, Polygonum, Galinsoga, Ptertdium and Rumex spp,