The Ecological Impact of Introducing a Foreign Organism into the Turfgrass Ecosystem

Rationale The use of biological control organisms to augment chemical pesticide applications is gaining popularity amongst the environmentally conscious. While a moderate amount of information is known about the effect of pesticides on the indigenous ecology of a given environment, relatively little data exists describing the effect of introducing living organisms to a native community, especially a turfgrass system. Pesticides, organic matter, and nutrients are all cycled by the activity of microorganisms in the natural environment. In order to assess the potential risks to these processes one must understand the effects of inputs such as the application of living organisms on native members of the turfgrass community.