ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that a synoptic evaluation of insect pest models, with the view of focusing more narrowly on the specific attributes of rangeland systems that offer both challenge and promise for successful modeling applications. It provides an evaluation of modeling contributions in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) research. The chapter aims to compare the attributes of more intensively managed agricultural systems to those of rangeland systems. IPM modeling applications in agroecosystems provide a valuable template for evaluating the potential role of modeling in rangeland pest management. The success of modeling approaches in agroecosystems is that the profit margin is large enough to support expensive monitoring systems often required to drive high technology models. Validated simulation models have provided a highly cost-effective means to estimate ecological parameters that would be difficult if not impossible to obtain otherwise. The major applications of modeling in pest management has occurred in intensively managed crop systems.
