{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.02519975414874001, 'fraction_numerical': 0.002458512599877074, 'mean_word_length': 5.2615384615384615, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Legitimacy and Adoption of a Scientific Biological Control Program: an Institutional Analysis of Hoddle

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. This adage might well be the title of this issue’s paper advocating the scientific introduction of natural enemies to achieve biological pest control (Hoddle 2004 [this issue]). In “Restoring Balance: Using Exotics to Control Invasive Exotics,” Hoddle advocates science-based biological control systems to reduce the damage from invasive pests. The article is moderate in tone and grounded in substantial scientific evidence, both general and detailed. And it is balanced: Hoddle provides a valuable resource documenting a long list of failed exotic-on-exotic pest-control efforts, reassures the reader that science has advanced beyond these, and demonstrates how such failures could be avoided in the future. From another view, Hoddle makes huge assumptions about the malleability of human institutions, not just the control of exotic pests: “The rate at which invasive species degrade valued habitats continues to accelerate, and human management is essential if areas and species of conservation importance are to be preserved.” The legitimacy of Hoddle’s argument depends not only on a consensus of biological scientists, but also on a variety of other critical stakeholders who will engage in the “human management.” The paper’s timing, the nature of its scientific claims, and the power struggles based on the interests and beliefs it implies all suggest that institutional change will be as important as scientific proof if the enemy-ofmy-enemy logic is to be implemented widely.