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Pesticides and groundwater quality: Issues and problems in four states
Book reviews
414 vided an authoritative overview of their respective areas. This would have made the chapters much more uniform. The editors have cross-referenced the chapters where appropriate, which does give some cohesion to the book. One final criticism is that several chapters discuss the statistical analysis of data so briefly that it would have been better if it had been omitted. The book will obviously be useful to those groups looking at insect-plant interactions as it does cover many different approaches. It is less likely to be read as a source of information by those people not directly concerned with the subject. N. CARTER
Pesticides and Groundwater Quality: Issues and Problems in Four States, by Patrick W. Holden for the Board on Agriculture, National Research Council ISBN 0-309-036763 (x+ 124 pp; £13.40). Washington, DC: National Academy Press. 1986. The localized detection of certain soil insecticides and nematicides in ground water has caused public concern in the United States over the past few years, and has led to large-scale watermonitoring programmes in areas where these compounds are used and the hydrogeology permits them to leach into the water table in significant concentrations. In 1984 the Board on Agriculture of the US National Research Council commissioned Patrick Holden to study the nature and scope of groundwater contamination by pesticides in California, New York State, Wisconsin and Florida, the four States most affected. Holden collected information from water-monitoring surveys and from State and Federal officials, and canvassed the views of academics and specialists on agriculture and water resources about the nature of the problem and the best means of controlling it. When he had presented his report the Board considered the information of sufficient public interest to be made available in book form. The book represents a condensation of the original memoranda presented to the Board, with some updating to cover developments during late 1984 and 1985. The first four chapters of the book deal in turn with the history and current status of efforts to monitor groundwater for residues in the four States, the problems of groundwater
quality control peculiar to each State, and the views of those interviewed on the best way to reduce the level of residues. The last two chapters describe interviews with representatives of the Federal Agencies (EPA and USDA) and four agrochemical companies whose products have been particularly associated with high residue levels in groundwater. The book includes a bibliography and a list of all the people interviewed, although the views expressed in the main text are not attributed to individuals. Many of the people Holden interviewed appeared worried that heightened public concern about pesticide residues in groundwater would produce an antipesticide backlash, causing severe problems for the agrochemical and agricultural industries. Many also observed that the ability to detect trace amounts of pesticides in water is much more advanced than the understanding of the toxicology associated with such discoveries. The book should be useful to those interested in the relationship between agricultural production and the protection of the environment. G. LE PATOUREL
Pest Control: Operations and Systems Analysis in Fruit Fly Management, ed. by M. Mangel, J . R . Carey and R. E. Plant. ISBN 3-540-16088-4 & ISBN 0-387-16088-4. (xii+465 pp.; ). Berlin: SpringerVerlag. 1986. 'Fruit flies are an international pest complex, causing widespread destruction in both developed and developing countries.' A pity, therefore, that the NATO-sponsored Advanced Research Workshop, of which these are the proceedings, included only one participant from a developing country. The papers are in three sections. The first, 'Policy, Economics and Operations', includes those that would not fit in the other two, and opens with the only paper that attempts to produce practical solutions to specific fruit fly problems by integrating technical, biological and socio-economic aspects. The section ends with a plea for more feasibility assessment both before and during R&D programmes, to prevent them from becoming 'locked in' to one particular course. In between we have an economic model, find out who trusts whom in Californian fruit fly control, and probe four 'organizational mindsets' that can cause fruit fly
CROP PROTECTION Vol. 6 December 1987
control programmes to fail. The second group of 10 papers covers 'Biology', half of which are concerned with breeding and evaluating the performance of sterile males. Trapping fruit flies with coloured, and food-odour or pheromone-baited traps occupies a further three papers, leaving one on general aspects of fruit fly ecology, and one on competition between two non-pest species living on thistle flowers. The third section comprises half the volume, and contains ten papers on 'Modeling and Analysis', several of which again deal at least in part with the sterile insect technique. There are discussions on various analytical and statistical techniques, including one pointing out that time in a life-table analysis is equivalent to dose in a probit analysis, leading one to the conclusion that death is simply an overdose of life. A paper on systems analysis and pest management suggests that modelling has failed to live up to initial expectations. This may be because the models have not addressed specific questions relevant to control decisions, as appears to be the case with some of the papers here. An exception is the paper on information obtained from traps, in which the senior editor has exercised his prerogative to develop his contribution in the light of the workshop discussions. I f all of the authors had been able to do likewise, these proceedings might have more successfully conveyed to readers the results of this 'unique opportunity' for interdisciplinary exchange of ideas, than is achieved by the short section summarizing the discussion sessions. Nevertheless, there is much of interest in this book for nontephritidists as well as those working on fruit flies. The volume ends (as it began) with the unanimously agreed research recommendations. These are wide ranging, so it is to be hoped that when, as is proposed, the meeting reconvenes, the participants can report not only answers to some of the questions raised, but improved control of fruit flies. R. K. DAY
Erratum The correct title of the book reviewed by Johnson Holt in Crop Protection (1987) 6 (3), 206 isPests of Rice and
Their Natural Enemies in Peninsular Malaysia, by G. van Vreden and Abdul Latif Ahmadzabidi.
414 vided an authoritative overview of their respective areas. This would have made the chapters much more uniform. The editors have cross-referenced the chapters where appropriate, which does give some cohesion to the book. One final criticism is that several chapters discuss the statistical analysis of data so briefly that it would have been better if it had been omitted. The book will obviously be useful to those groups looking at insect-plant interactions as it does cover many different approaches. It is less likely to be read as a source of information by those people not directly concerned with the subject. N. CARTER
Pesticides and Groundwater Quality: Issues and Problems in Four States, by Patrick W. Holden for the Board on Agriculture, National Research Council ISBN 0-309-036763 (x+ 124 pp; £13.40). Washington, DC: National Academy Press. 1986. The localized detection of certain soil insecticides and nematicides in ground water has caused public concern in the United States over the past few years, and has led to large-scale watermonitoring programmes in areas where these compounds are used and the hydrogeology permits them to leach into the water table in significant concentrations. In 1984 the Board on Agriculture of the US National Research Council commissioned Patrick Holden to study the nature and scope of groundwater contamination by pesticides in California, New York State, Wisconsin and Florida, the four States most affected. Holden collected information from water-monitoring surveys and from State and Federal officials, and canvassed the views of academics and specialists on agriculture and water resources about the nature of the problem and the best means of controlling it. When he had presented his report the Board considered the information of sufficient public interest to be made available in book form. The book represents a condensation of the original memoranda presented to the Board, with some updating to cover developments during late 1984 and 1985. The first four chapters of the book deal in turn with the history and current status of efforts to monitor groundwater for residues in the four States, the problems of groundwater
quality control peculiar to each State, and the views of those interviewed on the best way to reduce the level of residues. The last two chapters describe interviews with representatives of the Federal Agencies (EPA and USDA) and four agrochemical companies whose products have been particularly associated with high residue levels in groundwater. The book includes a bibliography and a list of all the people interviewed, although the views expressed in the main text are not attributed to individuals. Many of the people Holden interviewed appeared worried that heightened public concern about pesticide residues in groundwater would produce an antipesticide backlash, causing severe problems for the agrochemical and agricultural industries. Many also observed that the ability to detect trace amounts of pesticides in water is much more advanced than the understanding of the toxicology associated with such discoveries. The book should be useful to those interested in the relationship between agricultural production and the protection of the environment. G. LE PATOUREL
Pest Control: Operations and Systems Analysis in Fruit Fly Management, ed. by M. Mangel, J . R . Carey and R. E. Plant. ISBN 3-540-16088-4 & ISBN 0-387-16088-4. (xii+465 pp.; ). Berlin: SpringerVerlag. 1986. 'Fruit flies are an international pest complex, causing widespread destruction in both developed and developing countries.' A pity, therefore, that the NATO-sponsored Advanced Research Workshop, of which these are the proceedings, included only one participant from a developing country. The papers are in three sections. The first, 'Policy, Economics and Operations', includes those that would not fit in the other two, and opens with the only paper that attempts to produce practical solutions to specific fruit fly problems by integrating technical, biological and socio-economic aspects. The section ends with a plea for more feasibility assessment both before and during R&D programmes, to prevent them from becoming 'locked in' to one particular course. In between we have an economic model, find out who trusts whom in Californian fruit fly control, and probe four 'organizational mindsets' that can cause fruit fly
CROP PROTECTION Vol. 6 December 1987
control programmes to fail. The second group of 10 papers covers 'Biology', half of which are concerned with breeding and evaluating the performance of sterile males. Trapping fruit flies with coloured, and food-odour or pheromone-baited traps occupies a further three papers, leaving one on general aspects of fruit fly ecology, and one on competition between two non-pest species living on thistle flowers. The third section comprises half the volume, and contains ten papers on 'Modeling and Analysis', several of which again deal at least in part with the sterile insect technique. There are discussions on various analytical and statistical techniques, including one pointing out that time in a life-table analysis is equivalent to dose in a probit analysis, leading one to the conclusion that death is simply an overdose of life. A paper on systems analysis and pest management suggests that modelling has failed to live up to initial expectations. This may be because the models have not addressed specific questions relevant to control decisions, as appears to be the case with some of the papers here. An exception is the paper on information obtained from traps, in which the senior editor has exercised his prerogative to develop his contribution in the light of the workshop discussions. I f all of the authors had been able to do likewise, these proceedings might have more successfully conveyed to readers the results of this 'unique opportunity' for interdisciplinary exchange of ideas, than is achieved by the short section summarizing the discussion sessions. Nevertheless, there is much of interest in this book for nontephritidists as well as those working on fruit flies. The volume ends (as it began) with the unanimously agreed research recommendations. These are wide ranging, so it is to be hoped that when, as is proposed, the meeting reconvenes, the participants can report not only answers to some of the questions raised, but improved control of fruit flies. R. K. DAY
Erratum The correct title of the book reviewed by Johnson Holt in Crop Protection (1987) 6 (3), 206 isPests of Rice and
Their Natural Enemies in Peninsular Malaysia, by G. van Vreden and Abdul Latif Ahmadzabidi.