Bunias Erucago

Weed Risk Assessment for Bunias United States erucago L. (Brassicaceae) – Southern Department of warty cabbage Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service December 6, 2016 Version 1 Left: Yellow flowers of Bunias erucago. Right: Bunias erucago seeds are contained in this very distinctive fruit. Photographs courtesy of Ferran Turmo i Gort (Turmo i Gort, 2014). Agency Contact: Plant Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Laboratory Center for Plant Health Science and Technology Plant Protection and Quarantine Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service United States Department of Agriculture 1730 Varsity Drive, Suite 300 Raleigh, NC 27606 Weed Risk Assessment for Bunias erucago Introduction Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) regulates noxious weeds under the authority of the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. § 7701-7786, 2000) and the Federal Seed Act (7 U.S.C. § 1581-1610, 1939). A noxious weed is defined as “any plant or plant product that can directly or indirectly injure or cause damage to crops (including nursery stock or plant products), livestock, poultry, or other interests of agriculture, irrigation, navigation, the natural resources of the United States, the public health, or the environment” (7 U.S.C. § 7701-7786, 2000). We use the PPQ weed risk assessment (WRA) process (PPQ, 2015) to evaluate the risk potential of plants, including those newly detected in the United States, those proposed for import, and those emerging as weeds elsewhere in the world. The PPQ WRA process includes three analytical components that together describe the risk profile of a plant species (risk potential, uncertainty, and geographic potential; PPQ, 2015). At the core of the process is the predictive risk model that evaluates the baseline invasive/weed potential of a plant species using information related to its ability to establish, spread, and cause harm in natural, anthropogenic, and production systems (Koop et al., 2012). Because the predictive model is geographically and climatically neutral, it can be used to evaluate the risk of any plant species for the entire United States or for any area within it. We then use a stochastic simulation to evaluate how much the uncertainty associated with the risk analysis affects the outcomes from the predictive model. The simulation essentially evaluates what other risk scores might result if any answers in the predictive model might change. Finally, we use Geographic Information System (GIS) overlays to evaluate those areas of the United States that may be suitable for the establishment of the species. For a detailed description of the PPQ WRA process, please refer to the PPQ Weed Risk Assessment Guidelines (PPQ, 2015), which is available upon request. We emphasize that our WRA process is designed to estimate the baseline— or unmitigated—risk associated with a plant species. We use evidence from anywhere in the world and in any type of system (production, anthropogenic, or natural) for the assessment, which makes our process a very broad evaluation. This is appropriate for the types of actions considered by our agency (e.g., Federal regulation). Furthermore, risk assessment and risk management are distinctly different phases of pest risk analysis (e.g., IPPC, 2015). Although we may use evidence about existing or proposed control programs in the assessment, the ease or difficulty of control has no bearing on the risk potential for a species. That information could be considered during the risk management (decision-making) process, which is not addressed in this document. Ver. 1 December 6, 2016 1 Weed Risk Assessment for Bunias erucago Bunias erucago L. – Southern warty cabbage Species Family: Brassicaceae Information Synonyms: For a list of synonyms see The Plant List (The Plant List, 2013). Common names: Southern warty cabbage (NGRP, 2016; Weakley, 2015), corn rocket (Dave's Garden, 2016), crested warty cabbage (NRCS, 2016), crested bunias (Hanf, 1983; Williams, 1982; WSSA, 2016), toothed pod mustard (Massey, 1960). Botanical description: Bunias erucago is an annual or biennial herb that grows 20-60 cm high (Bojňanský and Fargašová, 2007). It has branched stems, some of which may be purplish, and has yellow, spatulate flowers (Massey, 1960).The fruits are 8-12 x 4-5 mm woody, ovoid, oblong achenes with four cristate wings and a glandulous surface. The seeds within the fruit are 2.5-3 x 2-2.6 mm in size, smooth, flattened, and suborbicular in shape (Bojňanský and Fargašová, 2007). A full botanical description is available in Massey (1960). Initiation: PPQ received a market access request for wheat seed for planting from the government of Italy (MPAAF, 2010). A commodity import risk analysis determined that B. erucago could be associated with this commodity as a seed contaminant. In this assessment, PERAL evaluated the risk potential of this species to the United States to help policy makers determine whether it should be regulated as a Federal Noxious Weed. Foreign distribution and status: Bunias erucago is native to parts of southern Europe (Ančev, 2007; Rollins, 1981; Verloove, 2006), Mediterranean Africa, and Turkey (NGRP, 2016). It is considered to be a casual escape in the United Kingdom (Wilson, 1852), Finland (Kurtto and Lahti, 1987), Belgium (Verloove, 2006), the Czech Republic (Pysek et al., 2002), and Hungary (Botond and Zoltan, 2004). In Europe, B. erucago is eaten in salads (Di Novella et al., 2013; Romano et al., 2013; Salisbury, 1961) and as a cooked vegetable (Dolina and Łuczaj, 2014; Luczaj and Dolina, 2015). Bunias erucago does not appear to be widely cultivated, but at least one European gardening database (PFAF, 2016) provides information about growing this species. U.S. distribution and status: Bunias erucago was collected in the United States from Philadelphia, PA, in 1877 and from a field in Prince Edward County, VA, in 1957 and 1959 (Massey, 1960). We did not find any additional occurrences of this species in the United States (e.g., GBIF, 2016; Kartesz, 2016; NGRP, 2016; NRCS, 2016). At least one U.S. gardening website (Dave's Garden, 2016) provides cultivation information for B. erucago, but this doesn’t necessarily mean this species is actually being cultivated in the United States. We did not find any online nurseries selling this species. Ver. 1 December 6, 2016 2 Weed Risk Assessment for Bunias erucago WRA area1: Entire United States, including territories. 1. Bunias erucago analysis Establishment/Spread Bunias erucago is a casual escape in several European countries (Botond Potential and Zoltan, 2004; Kurtto and Lahti, 1987; Pysek et al., 2002; Verloove, 2006; Wilson, 1852). It can be propagated from seed (Dave's Garden, 2016; PFAF, 2016), is self-fertile (Knuth and Müller, 1906), and is related to the weedy congener B. orientalis (CABI, 2016; Harvey and Gols, 2011). While B. erucago has few natural seed dispersal vectors (Benvenuti, 2007), its seed has been moved to new areas as a seed and grain contaminant (Clement and Foster, 2000; Massey, 1960; Verloove, 2006). We had an average level of uncertainty for this risk element. Risk score = 6 Uncertainty index = 0.19 Impact Potential Bunias erucago is listed as a weed of cereal crops, vineyards, cultivated fields, and fallows in Europe (Bojňanský and Fargašová, 2007; Massey, 1960; Saatkamp et al., 2014; Williams, 1982), but we did not find reports of it having any specific agricultural impacts. Additionally, we did not find any information about B. erucago having impacts in natural, urban, or suburban areas. We had an average level of uncertainty for this risk element. Risk score = 1.2 Uncertainty index = 0.17 Geographic Potential Based on three climatic variables, we estimate that about 82 percent of the United States is suitable for the establishment of Bunias erucago (Fig. 1). This predicted distribution is based on the species’ known distribution elsewhere in the world and includes point-referenced localities and areas of occurrence. The map for B. erucago represents the joint distribution of Plant Hardiness Zones 4-11, areas with 0-100+ inches of annual precipitation, and the following Köppen-Geiger climate classes: steppe, Mediterranean, humid subtropical, marine west coast, humid continental warm summers, humid continental cool summers, subarctic, and tundra. The area of the United States shown to be climatically suitable (Fig. 1) is likely overestimated since our analysis considered only three climatic variables. Other environmental variables, such as soil and habitat type, may further limit the areas in which this species is likely to establish. Bunias erucago mainly occurs in disturbed areas and waste ground in Europe (Rollins, 1981; Weakley, 2015). 1 “WRA area” is the area in relation to which the weed risk assessment is conducted (definition modified from that for “PRA area”) (IPPC, 2012). Ver. 1 December 6, 2016 3 Weed Risk Assessment for Bunias erucago Entry Potential Bunias erucago is valued as an ingredient in salads in Europe (Di Novella et al., 2013; Romano et al., 2013; Salisbury, 1961), but it does not appear to be widely cultivated. We did not find any online retailers selling this species. This species does move to new areas as a seed and grain contaminant (Clement and Foster, 2000; Massey, 1960; Verloove, 2006), and B. erucago plants have been found growing near ports (Salisbury, 1961). Risk score = 0.3 Uncertainty index = 0.40 Figure 1. Potential geographic distribution of Bunias erucago in the United States and Canada. Map insets for Hawaii and Puerto Rico are not to scale. 2. Results Model Probabilities: P(Major Invader) = 11.9% P(Minor Invader) = 69.8% P(Non-Invader) = 18.3% Risk Result = Evaluate Further Secondary Screening = Evaluate Further Ver. 1 December 6, 2016 4 Weed Risk Assessment for Bunias erucago Figure 2. Bunias erucago risk score (black box) relative to the risk scores of species used to develop and validate the PPQ WRA model (other symbols). See Appendix A for the complete assessment.

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