Entomopathogenic Nematodes: Biodiversity, Geographical Distribution and the Convention on Biological Diversity

Abstract

This paper address es three major issues. Firstly, molecula r taxonomy and its applicat ion to elucidat e the biodiver sity and biogeog raphy of entomopathogenic nematodes is conside red. Accurate identific ation is fundamenta l for understanding biodiver sity, and because these ne-matodes are morpholo gically conserv ative, molecular techniques will provid e the insights necessa ry to develop a robust, morpholo gically based taxonomy. Secondly, a review of the knowledge on their biogeog raphy and habita t specific ity, includin g a conside ration of the limitation s to the availabl e data is given. Much of the information is presented in two tables which summarize the distribu tions of recogniz ed specie s at continen tal and nationa l levels. Thirdly, this paper provides a brie f conside ration of the Convention on Biologica l Diversity and its implication s for future work with entomopathog enic nematodes and biological control.