What are the three main goals of pest management?

The three main goals of pest management are fundamentally aimed at minimizing the negative impacts of pests while maximizing efficacy and efficiency. Prevention is a key goal because it focuses on proactive strategies that stop pest problems before they start, such as habitat modification and sanitation practices. This means implementing measures to deter pests from being introduced or becoming established.

Suppression involves reducing pest populations to an acceptable level, thus minimizing their impact on human health, the environment, and economic activities. This can involve methods such as the application of pesticides or other means that limit pest populations to a manageable size.

Eradication is the goal of completely removing a pest from a specific area. However, it's important to note that eradication is often challenging and not always feasible; hence, pest management strategies often focus more on prevention and suppression as practical and sustainable approaches.

While the other choices include relevant concepts, they do not encompass the full spectrum of goals as effectively as prevention, suppression, and eradication. For instance, alteration and control are methods rather than overarching goals, and identification and monitoring, while important aspects of pest management, do not represent the proactive or reactive goals aimed at managing pest populations effectively.