Journal of Applied Ecology (2015) 52, 50-58

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Davide Rassati, Massimo Faccoli, Edoardo Petrucco Toffolo, Andrea Battisti and Lorenzo Marini (2015)
Improving the early detection of alien wood-boring beetles in ports and surrounding forests
Journal of Applied Ecology 52 (1), 50-58
Abstract: - International ports are generally considered the most likely points of entry for alien wood-boring beetles. A better understanding of the factors affecting their arrival and establishment at ports and their surrounding areas is of utmost importance to improve the efficacy and the cost-effectiveness of early detection programmes. Our work aimed at understanding how port size and the characteristics of the landscape surrounding the port, in terms of forest cover and forest composition, influence the occurrence of alien wood-boring beetles.
- From May to September 2012, 15 Italian international ports and the surrounding forests were monitored with multi-funnel traps baited with a multi-lure blend (alpha-pinene, ethanol, ipsdienol, ipsenol, methyl-butenol), three in each port and three in forests located 3–5 km away from the port. We identified both alien and native Scolytinae, Cerambycidae and Buprestidae beetles.
- Fourteen alien species, among which four are new to Italy, were trapped. Alien species richness was positively related to the amount of imported commodities at the port scale. Broadleaf forests surrounding ports received larger number of alien species than conifer forests. By contrast, total forest cover in the landscape surrounding ports was positively related to the occurrence of native but not alien species. The alien and native species richness was higher in the surrounding forests than in the ports.
- Synthesis and applications. The simultaneous use of traps in ports with large volume of imported commodities and in their surrounding broadleaf forests can strongly increase the probability of alien wood-boring beetle interceptions. The identification of sites where the arrival and establishment of alien species is more probable, combined with an efficient trapping protocol, can substantially improve the efficacy of early detection. Similar approaches may be used in other countries as early warning systems to implement timely measures to eradicate or contain alien invasions at the European scale.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website

Database assignments for author(s): Davide Rassati, Andrea Battisti, Lorenzo Marini, Massimo Faccoli

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
surveys/sampling/distribution
quarantine treatments/regulations/aspects

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Xyleborus ferrugineus		Italy
	Hypothenemus eruditus		Italy
	Gnathotrichus materiarius		Italy
	Xylosandrus germanus		Italy
	Xyleborus volvulus		Italy
	Phoracantha recurva		Italy
	Xylosandrus crassiusculus		Italy