Integrated pest management (IPM) is the selection, integration, and implementation of pest control based on predicted economic, ecological, and sociological consequences. IPM seeks maximum use of naturally occurring pest controls, including weather, disease agents, predators, and parasites. In addition, IPM utilizes various biological, physical, and chemical control and habitat modification techniques. Artificial controls are imposed only as required to keep a pest from surpassing intolerable population levels predetermined from accurate assessments of the pest damage potential and the ecological, sociological, and economic costs of the control measures. The presence of a pest species does not necessarily justify action for its control, and in fact tolerable infestations may be desirable, providing food for important beneficial insects, for example.