Semi-field study

A semi-field study or semifield study is a type of scientific investigation which is intermediate between laboratory study and open field research. This may be in a large enclosure in a lab, mixing some of the greater space of a field with the greater control, difficulty of escape, ease of access, predictable environment, and lowered chance of accidental escape of the lab; or an enclosure in a field, combining the realistic biotic and abiotic features of the field environment with some of the difficulty of escape of the lab setting.^[1]^[2]

Regulation

Semi-field studies are sometimes encouraged - directly and indirectly - by legislation which prohibits non-target effects of pesticides. For example, although arthropods are common legitimate targets, honey bees are widely agreed to be beneficial to humans and often protected.^[3]

References

^ Amano, Hiroshi; Haseeb, Muhammad (2001). "Rencently-proposed methods and concepts of testing the effects of pesticides on the beneficial mite and insect species: Study limitations and implications in IPM". Applied Entomology and Zoology. 36 (1). Japanese Society of Applied Entomology & Zoology: 1–11. Bibcode:2001AppEZ..36....1A. doi:10.1303/aez.2001.1. ISSN 0003-6862. S2CID 83484683.
^ Macfadyen, S.; Banks, J.E.; Stark, J.D.; Davies, A.P. (2014). "Using Semifield Studies to Examine the Effects of Pesticides on Mobile Terrestrial Invertebrates". Annual Review of Entomology. 59 (1). Annual Reviews: 383–404. doi:10.1146/annurev-ento-011613-162109. ISSN 0066-4170. PMID 24160417. S2CID 20315954.
^ Schäffer, Andreas; van den Brink, Paul J.; Heimbach, Fred; Hoy, Simon P., eds. (2010-08-03). Semi-Field Methods for the Environmental Risk Assessment of Pesticides in Soil. CRC Press. pp. xxxviii+144. doi:10.1201/9781439828595. ISBN 978-0-429-10381-0. p. 24.

Regulation

References

Further reading