Beggs, JMalone, LTodd, Jacqueline2012-03-262011http://hdl.handle.net/2292/15429The introduction of new organisms, such as biological control agents (BCA), can pose risks to a country's existing flora and fauna. Ecological risk assessments are used to try to ensure the benefits of the introduction (e.g., pest control) outweigh the risks, and this usually includes biosafety tests with non-target organisms. Selecting organisms to test can be difficult, especially if many at-risk invertebrates must be considered. The PRONTI (priority ranking of non-target invertebrates) species selection method was developed to aid in this task. In this study, the PRONTI method was verified for use with entomophagous BCA. To achieve this, the Asian paper wasp Polistes chinensis antennalis Pérez was selected as a proxy BCA with tortricid Lepidoptera in kiwifruit orchards as the target pests. To determine which non-target invertebrates were present in kiwifruit orchards, and therefore which invertebrates may be at risk from this BCA, a trapping survey of 20 kiwifruit orchards was conducted over the 2007/08 fruit-growing season. More than 600 taxa were identified from this agro-ecosystem. The PRONTI method was verified through the production of a ranked list of 340 of these invertebrates, with those at the top of the list prioritised for biosafety testing with P. chinensis. The primary driver of the PRONTI method was a prediction of the risk posed by P. chinensis to each non-target species. Validation of these predictions would enable the method to be used with more confidence by researchers and risk management authorities, such as New Zealand's Environmental Protection Authority. To validate the PRONTI risk predictions for P. chinensis in kiwifruit orchards, wasp colonies were introduced into ten kiwifruit orchards and the populations of 45 at-risk taxa were monitored. No population impacts were detected, and the predictions for these taxa could not be validated. However, prey items collected from P. chinensis colonies in two orchards matched species predicted to be most at risk from the wasps using the PRONTI method, providing some validation of the predictions. Further tests using real BCA are likely to improve the method, which is currently the only computerised species selection method available.Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.Restricted Item. Print thesis available in the University of Auckland Library or may be available through Interlibrary Loan.https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htmThesisCopyright: The authorhttp://purl.org/eprint/accessRights/OpenAccessQ112888127