Causton, C. 2003 Ensuring compatibility of biological control of Icerya purchasi Maskell with conservation in the Galapagos: Development of a procedure to evaluate risk.. Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Biological Control of Arthropods. FHTET-03-05. USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team Washington D.C. 573 pp.

Notes: [Conference held in Honolulu, Hawaii, 14-18 January 2002.] The methods described in this risk assessment were considered to be sufficiently rigorous to demonstrate the costs and benefits of introducing a biological control agent into an area of high conservation value. In practice, however, the lack of baseline data on the flora and fauna of the Galapagos and economic constraints limited the research that was carried out. The decision of whether to extend the project was ultimately defined by how long the GNPS was prepared to permit trials to continue at the risk of losing some species endangered by I. purchasi. Acquiring additional information on the ecology of invertebrate predators and other nontarget species would have required several years of further research, as would the physiological trials on plants to quantify I. purchasi damage in the field. Notwithstanding, the final conclusion reached by the GNPS was that the research demonstrated that a large number of endangered plant species are at risk from I. purchasi and that the use of classical biological control is unlikely to have significant negative impacts on this protected area.