Invasion of non-native pests is a major threat for plant health worldwide, resulting in both ecological and economic losses. Early detection of these pests is critical to implement appropriate eradication measures, prevent their spread and limit their impact. To demonstrate the presence or absence of EU quarantine pests on Belgian territory in forests, parks and public green spaces, the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain conducts annual detection surveys. These surveys may consist of visual inspections, supplemented or not by targeted sampling in case of suspected presence, asymptomatic sampling, or the use of traps with attractants. The number of inspections, samples or traps for these surveys is determined in a pragmatic manner, taking into account the risk of introduction, the presence of host plants and high-risk activities, numbers achieved in other Member States, and the capacity and priorities of the inspection services.
Articles 22 to 24 of the Plant Health Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 stipulate that the conduct of these surveys must be based on risk analysis and sound scientific and technical principles. Moreover, for priority pests, these surveys must be conducted with sufficiently high reliability. This also applies to the EU quarantine pests listed in Annex II, Part B of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072, for which control and/or containment measures have been established. These surveys should be underpinned by pest survey cards, guidelines for statistically sound and risk-based surveys (for example by using the statistical analysis tool RIBESS+ provided by EFSA for sampling effort).
Public green spaces in general, and arboreta and botanical gardens in particular, are of great interest for early detection of pest incursions. They indeed host a high diversity of native and exotic plant species in a restricted area, often located in cities or near important roads for facilitated access. In addition, the regular importation of non-native plant material to feed their collections increases the risk of accidentally introducing harmful hitchhiking organisms. As the staff of these institutions regularly work with plant collections and pay particular attention to their health status, this is a unique opportunity to develop an early warning network by raising awareness of quarantine pests and using appropriate reporting tools.
The main goal of this project is to develop statistically sound and risk-based detection surveys for 12 EU quarantine insect(-mediated) pests (listed below) in the Belgian context. For each organism, we will gather information on the most appropriate detection methods from the scientific literature (including EPPO and EFSA resources). Then, we will build risk maps for the introduction and spread/establishment of the pest based on introduction pathways, climatic suitability and host-plant distribution in Belgium. Finally, we will define a statistically sound sampling plan for the survey of each pest (e.g. using the EFSA RIBESS+ tool). In particular, we will explore if it is possible to design the detection surveys for substantiation of pest freedom in Belgium with reasonable confidence levels and a realistic sampling effort. In the end, we should be able to define, for each target organism, how (which methods and in how many locations) and where (the most at risk locations) to perform detection surveys to meet the EU Plant Health Regulation standards.
An additional objective of this project is to develop a scientifically robust monitoring network for quarantine organisms with Belgian botanical gardens and arboreta. To this purpose, we will contact relevant institutions, organise awareness-raising campaigns (through fact sheets and training) and propose a specific monitoring of one of the target pests. We will also adapt user-friendly reporting tools for the rapid identification of potential quarantine pests in botanical gardens and arboreta. To facilitate network management, collection of monitoring data and interactions with network members, we will establish a preferred contact and contract with one botanical garden to lead the network.
The main research objectives relate to the following tree-related EU quarantine insect pests:
- Agrilus anxius; - Agrilus planipennis;
- Anoplophora chinensis; - Anoplophora glabripennis;
- Aromia bungii; - Conotrachelus nenuphar;
- Dendrolimus sibiricus; - Monochamus spp.;
- Pityophthorus juglandis; - Popillia japonica;
and to these two tree-related insect-mediated EU quarantine pests:
- Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (nematode vectored by Monochamus spp.);
- Geosmithia morbida (fungus vectored by P. juglandis).
This project, funded by the Federal Public Service (FPS) Public Health (RT 24/4), is being carried out by a Belgian consortium including ILVO (Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food), Viaverda and the CRA-W.
Illustration of the quarantine insects targeted in this project. In reading order (photo credits): Agrilus anxius (Eduard Jendek), Agrilus planipennis (Eduard Jendek), Anoplophora chinensis (Matteo Maspero), Anoplophora glabripennis (Matteo Maspero), Aromia bungii (Matteo Maspero), Conotrachelus nenuphar (MAPAQ), Dendrolimus sibiricus (Natalia Kirichenko), Monochamus galloprovincialis (Gilles San Martin), Pityophthorus juglandis (Alexandre Kuhn), Popillia japonica (Gilles San Martin).
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