SynthesisEcology letters2021
Pesticides do not significantly reduce arthropod pest densities in the presence of natural enemies.
Synthesis in Ecology letters, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 118 citations in OpenAlex.
- Biological control interventions reduce pest abundance and crop damage while maintaining natural enemies in sub-Saharan Africa: a meta-analysis.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Pooled it
- The effects of ants on pest control: a meta-analysis.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Pooled it
- Pesticides do not significantly reduce arthropod pest densities in the presence of natural enemies.Ecology letters · 2021Pooled it
- The Diversity of Hymenoptera on Pummelo (Insects · 2026Article
- Climate Change Can Generate Enemy-Free Space for Crop-Feeding Herbivores.Global change biology · 2026Article
- Characterization of Cry4Aa Toxin fromInsects · 2025Article
- Article
- Food webs can deliver win-win strategies for tropical agroforestry and biodiversity conservation.Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America · 2025Article
- Crop yield loss under high insecticide regime driven by reduction in natural pest control.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Landscape heterogeneity and pesticide reduction favor predation, but also grape infestation by Lobesia botrana.Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America · 2025Article
- Assessment of Unintentional Acute Pesticide Poisoning (UAPP) Amongst Cotton Farmers in Tanzania.Toxics · 2025Article
- Extrafloral nectar from coffee-associated trees as alternative food for a predatory mite.Experimental & applied acarology · 2024Article
- A Sex-Specific Trade-Off Between Pesticide Resistance and Tolerance to Heat-Induced Sterility inEvolutionary applications · 2024Article
- Article
- Functional responses of two species of predatory mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) to eggs and first-instar nymphs of Bactericera Gobica Logniova (Homoptera: Psyllidae).Experimental & applied acarology · 2024Article
- Distance functions of carabids in crop fields depend on functional traits, crop type and adjacent habitat: a synthesis.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Assessment of unintentional acute pesticide poisoning among smallholder vegetable farmers in Trinidad and Jamaica.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Generalist Predators Shape Biotic Resistance along a Tropical Island Chain.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Cereal Aphid Parasitoids in Europe (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae): Taxonomy, Biodiversity, and Ecology.Insects · 2022Review
- Enhanced top-down control of herbivore population growth on plants with impaired defences.Functional ecology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Chemical pesticides remain the main agents for control of arthropod crop pests despite increased concern for their side effects. Although chemical pesticide applications generally result in short-term decreases of pest densities, densities can subsequently resurge to higher levels than before. Thus, pesticide effects on pest densities beyond a single pest generation may vary, but they have not been reviewed in a systematic manner. Using mathematical predator-prey models, we show that pest resurgence is expected when effective natural enemies are present, even when they are less sensitive to pesticides than the pest. Model simulations over multiple pest generations predict that pest resurgence due to pesticide applications will increase average pest densities throughout a growing season when effective natural enemies are present. We tested this prediction with a meta-analysis of published data of field experiments that compared effects of chemical control of arthropod plant pests in the presence and absence of natural enemies. This largely confirmed our prediction: overall, pesticide applications did not reduce pest densities significantly when natural enemies were present, which concerned the vast majority of cases. We also show that long-term pesticide effectiveness is underreported and suggest that pest control by natural enemies deserves more attention.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.