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Forestry Department Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Forest Health & Biosecurity Working Papers Biosecurity and Forests: An Introduction with particular emphasis on forest pests by Matthew J.W. Cock with inputs from Marc Kenis and Rüdiger Wittenberg December 2003 Forest Resources Development Service Working Paper FBS/2E Forest Resources Division FAO, Rome, Italy Forestry Department Disclaimer This paper is one of a series of FAO documents on forest-related health and biosecurity issues. The purpose of these papers is to provide early information on on-going activities and programmes, and to stimulate discussion. The study was carried out in March 2003, and was financially supported by the FAO-Netherlands Partnership Programme on Agro-Biodiversity. The author would like to thank the following persons for helping to prepare some of the case studies (taken from the Global Invasive Species Programme Toolkit) presented in this paper. Case Study 4 was prepared by S. Soetikno, CAB International South-East Asia Regional Centre, Malaysia Agricultural Research & Development Institute; Case Study 11 was prepared by Ross Morgan, National Manager, Forest Health Forest Health Advisory Services, New Zealand. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Quantitative information has been compiled according to sources, methodologies and protocols identified and selected by the author. For standardized forest inventory methodologies and assessments on forest resources, please refer to FAO, 2003. State of the World’s Forests 2003; and to FAO, 2001. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 (FRA 2000). FAO Forestry Paper No 140. Official information can also be found at the FAO Internet site (http://www.fao.org/forestry/Forestry.asp). Comments and feedback are welcome. For further information please contact: Pierre Sigaud, Forestry Officer (Forest Genetic Gillian Allard, Forestry Officer (Forest Health) Resources) Forest Resources Division Forest Resources Division Forestry Department Forestry Department FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00100 Rome, Italy 00100 Rome, Italy Fax: + 39 06 570 55 137 Fax: + 39 06 570 55 137 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] For citation: Cock, M.J.W. 2003. Biosecurity and Forests: An Introduction – with particular emphasis on forest pests. FAO Forest Health and Biosecurity Working Paper FBS/2E, 2003. © FAO 2003 CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................ 1 1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................. 4 1.1. DEFINITIONS .................................................................................................................... 4 1.3. IMPORTANCE OF BIOSECURITY ......................................................................................... 6 2. THREATS TO FORESTS AND FOREST TREES............................................................ 7 2.1. IMPORTANCE OF ARTHROPOD PESTS AND DISEASES ......................................................... 7 2.1.1. OUTBREAK PESTS.......................................................................................................... 13 2.2. IMPORTANCE OF WEED PESTS........................................................................................... 15 2.3. ALIEN VERSUS INDIGENOUS PESTS AND DISEASES............................................................ 16 2.4. INTRODUCTION OF NEW TREE GENOTYPES ....................................................................... 18 2.5. MONOCULTURE VERSUS MIXED OR NATURAL PLANTATIONS............................................ 18 2.6. SUSCEPTIBILITY OF INDIGENOUS VERSUS EXOTIC TREES IN PLANTATIONS ....................... 20 3. MANAGING THREATS TO FORESTS AND FOREST TREES.................................... 21 3.1. ALIEN SPECIES: PREVENTION ........................................................................................... 21 3.2. ALIEN SPECIES: MONITORING AND SURVEILLANCE .......................................................... 23 3.3. ALIEN SPECIES: ERADICATION.......................................................................................... 25 3.4. ALIEN SPECIES: BIOLOGICAL CONTROL ............................................................................ 28 3.5. OTHER MANAGEMENT OPTIONS ....................................................................................... 31 3.6. CURRENT AND FUTURE TRENDS IN FOREST PEST MANAGEMENT....................................... 34 4. FORESTRY TREES AS INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES.................................................... 36 5. TRENDS IN THE USE OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOREST TREES................ 40 6. FORESTRY AS A PATHWAY FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF ALIEN SPECIES .. 41 6.1. SPECIES INTRODUCED IN ASSOCIATION WITH SILVICULTURAL PRACTICES........................ 41 6.2. MOVEMENT OF GERMPLASM ........................................................................................... 44 6.3. SOLID WOOD PACKAGING MATERIALS.............................................................................. 44 6.4. TIMBER ............................................................................................................................ 46 6.5. AID PROGRAMMES ........................................................................................................... 47 6.6. CONTAMINANTS OF FOREST FRUITS AND SEEDS ............................................................... 48 7. COMMUNICATION AND STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT.................................... 48 8. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................. 49 REFERENCES........................................................................................................................... 53 Appendix. Selected invasive alien species affecting forestry eco-systems.................................. 61 Case studies, Tables and Figures Case Study 1: Assessing the impact of introduced conifer aphid pests in Africa........................ 8 Case Study 2: Chestnut blight changes a forest ecosystem.......................................................... 10 Case Study 3: Fordlandia – a classic story of indigenous plantation failure................................ 11 Case Study 4: The threat of South American leaf blight to rubber in Malaysia .......................... 12 Case Study 5: Rubber – an industry under threat......................................................................... 13 Case Study 6: Concurrent outbreaks of insects and diseases: maple defoliators and maple anthracnose................................................................................................................................... 14 Case Study 7: Socio-economic impact of Mikania micrantha in Kerala, India and Malaysia .... 15 Case Study 8: The origin and spread of Dutch elm disease......................................................... 17 Case Study 9: Hybridization threatens the endangered black poplar population in Great Britain........................................................................................................................................... 19 Case Study 10: The precautionary principle ................................................................................ 22 Case Study 11: Early detection and eradication of white-spotted tussock moth in New Zealand24 Case Study 12: Containment versus eradication: Miconia calvescens in Hawaii........................ 26 Case Study 13: Biological control of an insect to save an endemic tree on St Helena................ 28 Case Study 14: Biological control of Eucalyptus weevil in South Africa ................................... 29 Case Study 15: Spread of a biological control agent, Cactoblastis cactorum, in the Caribbean. 30 Case Study 16: Buffers to keep invasive plants out of forest fragments...................................... 31 Case Study 17: Principles of the Forest Stewardship Council relating to biosecurity................. 35 Case Study 18: Paper-bark tree alters habitats in Florida ............................................................ 37 Case study 19: Possible impacts of mycorrhizal introductions associated with forestry trees .... 42 Case Study 20: Solid wood packaging materials: an important potential pathway for the introduction of alien species into the USA................................................................................... 45 Case Study 21: Asian longhorned beetle, a threat to North American forests............................. 46 Case Study 22: Siberian timber imports: analysis of a potentially high-risk pathway ................ 47 Table 1: Components of a generalized IPM system..................................................................... 32 Figure 1: Summary of factors that may interact to create insect pest outbreaks in tropical forestry and strategies for reducing risk ...................................................................................... 33 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ‘Biosecurity’ in food and agriculture describes the concept and process of managing biological