Modeling the connection between imports and insect invasions - Andrew Liebhold
Channel: Modelling in Ecology and Evolution
Date: 2022-04-26

Keynote by Andrew Liebhold, USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, Morgantown, WV USA; Facuty of Forestry and Wood Science, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic

Abstract:
Thousands of insect species have invaded regions outside of their native ranges and many of these species have had substantial impacts on agriculture, biodiversity and human health. There are numerous pathways that have facilitated insect invasions but various types of imports are responsible for the introductions of the most species. There are several different ways in which insects become associated with imported goods. Some insects are "hitchhikers" on inanimate material such as wood packaging material used for shipping machinery, and other cargo. But probably the historically dominant pathway is the association of insects with live plants and plant parts that are sometimes moved around the world. In order to inform biosecurity policies, it is important to understand the socio-economic drivers of insect invasions. Fortunately, there is a rich history of insect invasions during the last 150 years that we can draw from to identify drivers of invasions. But there are several issues that make such identification challenging. One is that there typically is a lag between the establishment of a species and its discovery and this clouds temporal relationships. Another complication is the bridgehead effect, in which species invade from previously invaded regions instead of from their native range. Another complication is that there may be a finite number of species that are capable of invading from various source regions and over time these species pools may become depleted. Finally, historical data on imports, passenger traffic, etc are typically incomplete over the last 150 years. Here, I will discuss these problems and provide some efforts that have been made to work around them.