A key element in weed biological control is the selection of a biological control agent that minimizes the risks of non-target attack and indirect effects on the recipient community. Network ecology is a promising approach that could help decipher tritrophic interactions in both the native and the invaded ranges, to complement quarantine-based host-specificity tests and gain insights on potential interactions of biological control agents. This review highlights practical questions addressed by networks, including 1) biological control agent selection, based on specialization indices, 2) risk assessment of biological control agent release into a novel environment, via particular patterns of association such as apparent competition between agent(s) and native herbivore(s), 3) network comparisons through structural metrics, 4) potential of network modelling and 5) limits of network construction methods.

杂草生物防治中的关键要素是选择一种生物防治剂，以最大程度地减少非目标攻击和对受体群落的间接影响。网络生态学是一种有前途的方法，可以帮助破译本地和被入侵范围内的三营养相互作用，以补充基于检疫的宿主特异性测试，并深入了解生物防治剂的潜在相互作用。这篇综述着重介绍了网络解决的实际问题，包括：1）基于专业化指标的生物控制剂的选择； 2）通过以下途径评估生物控制剂释放到新环境中的风险： 特定的关联模式，例如代理与天然草食动物之间的明显竞争，3）通过结构指标进行网络比较，4）网络建模的潜力以及5）网络构建方法的限制。