Conflicting interests and the biological control of weeds

The inability to predict the impact of an introduced biological control agent against naturalized or native plants has stalled biological control projects against naturalized and native weeds. Lack of accurate information on economic, ecological and aesthetic loss-benefit thresholds for the plants in question, plus the absence of a forum for evaluating conflicting interests, hinders resolution. Improved methods of evaluating the potential effect of an agent on the weed and non-target plants are needed to strengthen the impact predictability of the agent.