Cover crops for sustainable pest suppression and other ecosystem services

This paper will include new data from a range of Australian agricultural systems in which cover crops and similar forms of ‘ecological engineering’ are being used to enhance predator and parasitoid impact. Pest taxa that appear amenable to management in this manner include tortricid and noctuid Lepidoptera, aphids and a range of coleopterans. Findings will be discussed in relation to how farmers can be persuaded to adopt ecological engineering by promoting the full range of ecosystem services rather than focusing solely on pest suppression