1. Diversity, biology and evolutionary relationships -- 2. Improvement of entomopathogenic nematodes: a genetic approach -- 3. Behaviour and population dynamics of entomopathogenic nematodes following Application -- 4. Entomopathogenic nematode in the soil environment -- 5. Trophic relationships of entomopathogenic nematodes in agricultural habitats -- 6. Utilizing persistent entomopathogenic nematodes in a conservation or a more classical biological approach -- 7. Prospects in the application technology and the formulation of entomopathogenic nematodes for biological control of insects pests -- 8. Insect-cadaver applications: pros and cons -- 9. Entomopathogenic nematode application technology -- 10. Entomopathogenic nematode production and application: regulation, ecological impact and non-target effects -- 11. New York case study: biological control of Otiorhynchus ligustici with native persistent entomopathogenic nematodes using a more classical approach -- 12. Entomopathogenic nematodes in turfgrass: ecology and management of important insect pests in North America -- 13. It takes a village: entomopathogenic nematode community structure and conservation biological control in Florida (US) orchards -- 14. Entompathogenic nematodes in Cuba: from laboratories to popular biological control agents for pest management in a developing country -- 15. Entomopathogenic nematodes in tropical agriculture: current uses and their future in Venezuela -- 16. Orchard applications of entomopathogenic nematodes in Spain -- 17. Entomopathogenic nematodes in the Czech Republic: diversity, occurrence and habitat preferences -- 18. Entomopathgenic nematodes in Italy: occurrence and use in microbial control strategies -- 19. Entomopathogenic nematodes in iran: research and applied aspects -- 20. Entomopathogenic nematode exploitation: case-studies in laboratory and field applications from South Africa -- 21 Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita as a control agent for slugs.

One of the most challenging goals for modern agriculture is simultaneously reducing negative impacts on the environment while producing enough food. Sustainable agriculture is the alternative, using rational methods to protect crops and enhance productions. To accomplish this objective is necessary to link fundamental and applied research to advance towards the optimal use of the resources. The first volume of the Series “Sustainability in plant and crop protection”, presents a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary compendium about the recent achievements in the use of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) and other nematodes as biological control in a global scale. Three sections comprise this volume to provide a holistic and up-to-date revision of different topics related with the use of nematodes as biocontrol. The fundamental bases on the biodiversity, genetic improvement, behavior, interactions in the rhizosphere and the conceptual model to their employ from augmentation to conservation biological control are discussed in the first section (Chapters 1-6). New approaches and techniques developed to enhance their efficacy and survival, enhancement of their release and the implications of regulation and ecological impact on the industrial scale production integrate the core of the second section (Chapters 7-10). The last section links the two previous ones in a worldwide case-study discussion. Long-term research programs and pioneer studies in countries with limited resources are integrated in this section (Chapters 11-20), including a special reference on the advances performed in the use of the slug parasitic nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita (Chapter 21). The contributors are renowned Scientific with long expertise in the selected topic. Their experiences illustrate the roadmap for the future generation of researchers interested in built a new system in which sustainable agriculture will be the standard practice.