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The Latest on Phytophthoras

Phytopthora ramorum on tanoak in California; F.T. Campbell

Nine eastern states are participating in the 2016 USDA National Phytophthora ramorum Early Detection Survey of Forests. Those states are AL, FL, GA, MS, NC, PA, SC, TN, and TX. As of late August, streams in four locations were P. ramorum-positive. Three are in AL, one in MS. All had tested positive in previous years. Also, all have been associated with previously positive nurseries. (Reported in the California Oak Mortality Task Force newsletter for September.) It is reassuring that no new positive locations have been detected. However, on what substrate is the pathogen persisting? Scientists agree that the pathogen does not survive in water (although it is reliably detected by testing in water) but must survive on some plant material – perhaps roots.

P. ramorum also persists in nurseries. Seven California nurseries are participating in the APHIS federal P. ramorum program under which they are allowed to ship host plants interstate. Positive plants have been detected in two of them. One of these nurseries is undergoing the Confirmed Nursery Protocol clean-up. The other has completed the cleanup and has been allowed to resume shipping plants interstate. In both cases, the infected plants were not from the five “high-risk” genera which are the focus of monitoring for the regulatory system — Camellia, Kalmia, Pieris, Rhododendron, and Viburnum. (Reported in the California Oak Mortality Task Force newsletter for September.) I expressed concern about this too-narrow focus in a blog posted in July 2015 – http://nivemnic.us/2015/07/.

I have written about the widespread presence of various Phytophthoras in nurseries in blogs in April (for Europe http://nivemnic.us/2016/04/ ) and July (for California http://nivemnic.us/2016/07/ ). New publications add to this picture.

Junker and colleagues (see references below) report the detection of 15 Phytophthora species in two commercial woody ornamental nurseries (presumably in Europe, since the authors are Europeans). Twelve of the species are previously described but the DNA of three isolates did not match any of the known species. Detections were highest in puddles on nursery pathways; followed by plant residues;, wind-carried leaves; and water and sediment from runoff. The plant samples showed very low infection rates – a disturbing finding given the reliance until recently on inspection of plants to detect the pathogen. (Reported in the California Oak Mortality Task Force newsletter for September.)

New Phytophthora confirmed in U.S.

The United States has the first official confirmed detection of the pathogen Phytophthora quercina. It was found associated with oak trees planted on restoration sites in central coastal California. Although the California detection is the first officially confirmed detection of the pathogen in the U.S., a P. quercina ‘like’ organism has been reported to be associated with oak decline in forests in the Midwest. P. quercina is a pathogen associated with oak decline across Europe. It was rated as the species of highest concern in a USDA Plant Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Laboratory (PERAL) report. Another pathogen, P. tentaculata, was rated fifth on the same list. It was recently found in association with multiple native plant species in California’s native plant nurseries (see my July blog, linked above). See also California Oak Mortality Task Force newsletter at http://www.suddenoakdeath.org/news-and-events/current-newsletter/

Rapid Response Might Have Contained SOD – When will authorities learn this lesson?

Earlier this year, experts on modeling the epidemiology of plant disease concluded that the sudden oak death epidemic in California could have been slowed considerably if aggressive management actions – backed by “a very high level of investment” – had started in 2002. By then, there was sufficient knowledge about the disease to guide actions. Management actions should have focused on the leading edge of the epidemic (admittedly, that edge has proven difficult to detect). The study is by American and British scientists (Cunniffe, Cobb, Meentemeyer, Rizzo, and Gilligan). See reference and news report below.

The authors’ estimate documents the high costs of inaction. This is an important lesson – which has been repeated many times. If only officials from California and APHIS would take this to heart regarding several other forest pests. These include the polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers and even the goldspotted oak borer (all described here).

References

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160502161111.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fplants_animals%2Finvasive_species+%28Invasive+Species+News+–+ScienceDaily%29

Cunniffe, N.J., R.C. Cobb, R.K. Meentemeyer, D.M. Rizzo, and C.A. Gilligan. Modeling when, where, and how to manage a forest epidemic, motivated by SOD in Calif. PNAS, May 2016 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1602153113

Junker, C., Goff, P., Wagner, S., and Werres, S. 2016. Occurrence of Phytophthora in commercial nursery production. Plant Health Progress. 17:64-75.

Posted by Faith Campbell

Europe moves to curtail forest pest introductions – but strongest measures are hampered by trade rules

ALB in Europe; photo by Doris Holling WSL

Maartje J. Klapwijk and several colleagues have recently taken a hard look at non-native forest pests in Europe. They conclude that current European legislation is inadequate to prevent forest/tree pest introduction, establishment and spread in the European Union. (A link to the article is provided at the end of this post.)

Some of the proactive steps that they recommend, however, will be difficult to enact. International trade rules (World Trade Organization, Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures – SPS Agreement) require that countries prove that the target commodity in trade presents a significant pest risk – proof that is difficult to obtain before damage has actually occurred.

(I have written extensively about this “Catch 22” – see Fading Forests II here)

Furthermore, European Union rules prevent countries from taking proactive measures to restrict potentially pest-infested plants or wood products being traded from one EU member country to another. However, member countries’ vary in their levels of concern about tree-killing pests. As a result, phytosanitary measures are quite weak in some countries. Once a pest-infested shipment enters a country with a weak phytosanitary system it can be moved freely to any other member country.

Thus, international and EU rules together create a significant risk that a pest will enter, establish, and then be spread by commerce to the rest of the Union.

The authors note that growing trade in living plants and wood products has brought a rise in non-native tree pests becoming established in Europe. The number of alien invertebrate species has increased two-fold since 1950; the number of fungal species has increased four-fold since 1900. Few studies have attempted to quantify the economic impacts of non-native tree-killing pests in Europe. But the authors say that the introduced pests will cause economic damage either directly by reducing the revenue of the country or imposing control costs; or indirectly through trade restrictions or reduced values of real estate.

Among the recent introductions are the pinewood nematode from North America; Asian and Citrus longhorned beetles and ash dieback fungus from Asia; and sudden oak death and other Phytophthora species. (I described the extent of Phytophtphora infestations in European nurseries in a blog posted on April 25.) As a partial response, EU countries have created a network of nurseries intended to serve as an early warning system against further introductions of alien tree pests. (Descriptions of these pests and where they are found are available on the website of the European and Mediterranean Plant Pest Organization (EPPO) here)

ALB introduction sites in Europe

The European Union regulates invasive species through the Environment Directorate-General (DG Environment). However, tree-killing pests and other plant health concerns are the responsibility of a different governmental body, the Directorate-General Health and Food Safety (DG SANCO).

Maartje J. Klapwijk and colleagues note the risk associated with:

crates, pallets, and other forms of wood packaging;
wood chips (Europe imports more than 4 million tons of wood pellets as fuel in order to meet its carbon emission reduction goals) ; and
especially – living plants.

They note that the international community has adopted two international related sanitary agreements : ISPM#15 (wood packaging) and ISPM#36 (living plants). The European Union requires certificates stating that imported plants are free from harmful organisms and that phytosanitary measures stipulated by the importing country have been applied. However, limited resources mean that only a small proportion of living plants, plant material, soil and wood products arriving in Europe can be inspected. “The main purpose of the inspections is to verify whether shipments comply with regulations, rather than to stop potentially harmful organisms …” (my emphasis). Reflecting the differences in levels of concern among EU member states noted above, there are large differences in inspection intensity among the EU member states.

The pertinent European legislation is Directive 2000/29/EC. It relies on a ‘‘black-list’’ of plants and plant products that are banned from import and specifies procedures to apply when any of these banned products is found in the EU. According to Klapwijk and colleagues, these quarantine lists provide insufficient protection because harmful organisms that enter the EU often are unknown prior to establishment.

Aware of the current system’s inadequacies, the EC has proposed a new regulation which would simplify and harmonize plant passports, allow for stricter measures against pests, and address emerging risks from certain living plant imports from some non-EU countries. Instead of listing harmful plant pests, the proposed regulation “sets out the conceptual nature of quarantine pests” and empowers the Commission to adopt measures to control certain pests.

Klapwijk and colleagues praise these actions as a significant step forward. However, they note that the new rules still don’t provide for precautionary assessments of high-risk commodities. Nor do they restrict import of the highest-risk commodities, such as imports of large plants or plants in soil. (my emphasis)

The authors note that other countries take a more pro-active, precautionary stance. Australia and New Zealand require that all imported plant products be assessed and proved safe before import. The U.S. restricts the size of imported plants and does not allow imported plants to be in soil. (The U.S. has proposed a new approach that relies increasingly on integrated measures or systems approaches rather than port-of-entry inspection. However, this proposal has been pending for more than three years. (APHIS explains its proposal here)

The question is, do trade rules allow Europe to apply the same restrictions as other countries? As Klapwijk and colleagues note, the EU cannot adopt more rigorous phytosanitary measures without providing scientific evidence for this necessity. Preparing a risk assessment to make this case will involve considerable work. As part of this process, Europe should announce that it wishes to raise its “level of protection” and that more stringent phytosanitary measures are needed to achieve that new goal.

Meanwhile, the EU can enhance its active detection efforts and “rapid response” capabilities. The new EC directive will require countries in which a new pest is detected to eradicate or contain the pest. However, the response continues to depend on investments and actions by individual Member States – which have often been insufficient.

Klapwijk and colleagues endorse the suggestion by Hulme et al. (2009) that the European Commission establish a single agency to respond to introductions of any kind of invasive species (not just tree pests) – modeled on the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Finally, Klapwijk and colleagues note the importance of engaging the public. Citizens’ participation can enhance early detection and strengthen public support for management strategies.

CONCLUSIONS

We Americans are very lucky that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had fairly stringent rules governing plant imports before the World Trade Organization and SPS Agreement were negotiated in the 1990s. We don’t have the burden of proving that imports of large plants (small trees!) in soil is too risky. (This not to say that U.S. regulations should not be tightened further for the most high-risk imports. See Fading Forests III here). Europeans should be able to build their case for more restrictive trade rules on existing risk assessments and practices utilized by the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and others; on the numerous studies published in recent years that describe recent introductions to Europe and the pathways by which they entered; and by the number of those introductions alone. (To see what has been introduced, visit the website of the European and Mediterranean Plant Pest Organization (EPPO) here)

One important step in improving U.S. rules would be to finalize the proposal – put forward in 2013 – to depend more on integrated measures or systems approaches rather than inspection at the port of entry. Join with me in urging the Secretary of Agriculture to finalize this proposal before he leaves office in January. Contact me via the “contact us” button on the webpage to learn how you can help.

The United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union. This means that the U.K. has the opportunity – and burden – of developing its own phytosanitary regulations. The U.K. has some of the leading forest pathologists and entomologists. The risk is obvious to all – especially Phytophthora ramorum in larch plantations and ash dieback disease in many areas of the country. I hope that the British will seize this opportunity to adopt really effective phytosanitary regulations that can serve as a model for the rest of Europe – and possibly even the U.S.

Sources

Maartje J. Klapwijk, Anna J. M. Hopkins, Louise Eriksson, Maria Pettersson, Martin Schroeder,A°ke Lindelo¨w, Jonas Ro¨nnberg, E. Carina H. Keskitalo, Marc Kenis. 2016. Reducing the risk of invasive forest pests and pathogens: Combining legislation, targeted management and public awareness. Ambio 2016, 45(Suppl. 2):S223–S234 DOI 10.1007/s13280-015-0748-3

Hulme, P.E. 2009. Trade, transport and trouble: Managing invasive species pathways in an era of globalization. Journal of Applied Ecology 46:10-18

Posted by Faith Campbell

Campbell Wins Award from State Foresters

We are delighted to note that CISP Vice President Dr. Faith Campbell recently received the John Shannon Current Achievement Award for Partnerships from the National Association of State Foresters (NASF).

She was among nine individuals honored on September 21, 2016, at the group’s annual meeting in Savannah, Georgia. All recipients “have made outstanding contributions in wildland fire protection, urban and community forestry, forest management and overall leadership” according to NASF. Each was nominated by the organization’s members and partners for accomplishments in promoting, supporting and strengthening the forestry community nationwide. “Every year we are inspired by the achievements of so many leaders and partners in the forestry community, who are working to ensure the future sustainability of our nation’s trees and forests,” said Wisconsin State Forester Paul DeLong and NASA President.*

The Association noted that Faith has spent more than twenty years working on invasive species issues for several environmental or conservation organizations, including The Nature Conservancy, American Lands, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

We at CISP couldn’t agree more that Faith is an inspiring and long-standing leader. She has extraordinary expertise regarding the non-native forest pests that threaten our Nation’s forests. Her voice is forthright and insistent — urging us ever onward to strengthen national and international policy to limit these burgeoning threats.

Please join us in congratulating her on this much-deserved honor.

Peter Jenkins

Phyllis Windle

* NASF press release at: http://www.stateforesters.org/2016-state-forestry-awards-recognize-excellence-forestry

Invaders Put Another Bird at Risk

i`iwi; photo by James Petruzzi; courtesy of American Bird Conservancy

As noted in an earlier blog (“When Will Invasive Species Get the Respect They Deserve?” May 2016), invasive species can cause extinctions – especially on islands. I have posted other blogs about the invasional meltdown in Hawai`i (“Hawaii’s unique forests now threatened by insects and pathogens” October 2015).

A further demonstration of the meltdown is the decision by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to propose listing another Hawaiian honeycreeper (bird) – the i`iwi (Drepanis (Vestiaria) coccinea) as a threatened species. Already, some 20 Hawaiian forest birds are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Many, although not all, are threatened by the same factors as the i`iwi.

The proposal, which summarizes an extensive supporting report, is available here. USFWS is accepting comments on the proposal that are submitted to the USFWS’ website before November 21.

The proposal documents the tragedy of Hawai`i. The i`iwi was once almost ubiquitous on the islands, from sea level to the tree line. Today the bird is missing from Lanai; and reduced to a few individuals on Oahu, Molokai, and west Maui. Remaining populations of i`iwi are largely restricted to forests above ~ 3,937 ft (1,200 m) on Hawaii Island (Big Island), east Maui, and Kauai.

In the past, hunting for the bird’s striking red feathers and agricultural conversion doubtless affected the i`iwi’s populations. Since the early 20^th Century, though, the threats have all been invasive species.

The USFWS has concluded that the principal threat is disease: introduced avian malaria — caused by the protozoan Plasmodium relictum and vectored by introduced mosquitoes (Culex quinquefasciatus). A second disease, Avian pox (Avipoxvirus sp.), is also present but scientists have not been able to separate its effects from those of malaria. Both vectored by the southern house mosquito.

I`iwi are very susceptible to avian malaria; in lab tests, 95% of birds died.

I’iwi on `ohi`a blossom at Hakalau NWR; photo by Daniel J. Lebbin; courtesy of American Bird Conservancy

I`iwi alive now have survived because they live in forests at sufficiently high elevations; there, cooler temperatures reduce the numbers of mosquitoes, and thus transmission of the disease. However, the birds must fly to lower elevations in certain seasons to find flowering plants (the i`iwi feeds on nectar) – and then becomes exposed to mosquitoes.

Worse, climate change has already caused warming at higher elevations, and is projected to have a greater impact in the future. The rising temperatures predicted to occur – even if countries meet their commitments from the December 2015 meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change – will result in upslope movement of mosquitoes. As a result, according to three studies reviewed by the USFWS, the i`iwi will lose 60 – 90% of its current (already limited) disease-free range by the end of this century, with significant effects occurring by 2050.

I`iwi occur primarily in closed canopy, montane wet or montane mesic forests composed of tall-stature `ohi`a (Metrosideros polymorpha) trees or in mixed forests of `ohi`a and koa (Acacia koa) trees. The i`iwi’s diet consists primarily of nectar from the flowers of `ohi`a and several other plants, with occasional insects and spiders.

Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge; USFWS photo

The i`iwi’s dependence on `ohi`a creates another peril, because `ohi`a trees are vulnerable to alien diseases – both ohia rust and, especially, rapid ohia death or Ceratocystis ohia wilt. (Read descriptions of both diseases here. As of September 2016, rapid ohia death has been found only on Hawai`i – the “Big Island”. However, 90% of all i`iwi currently reside on the Big Island! Worse, in future the relatively large area of high-elevation `ohi`a dominated forest on the Big Island was expected to be the principal refuge of the i`iwi from the anticipated climate-driven up-slope movement of malaria. However, as just noted, the Big Island’s trees are now being killed by disease. If rapid ohia death continues to spread across the native `ohi`a forests – on Hawai`i and potentially on the other islands – it will directly threaten i`iwi by eliminating the limited, malaria-free native forest areas that remain for the species.

Rapid `ohi`a death (ROD) is caused by two distinct strains of the widely introduced pathogen Ceratocystis fimbriata. It was first detected in the Puna District of Hawai`i in 2012. The disease has since been detected across a widening area of the Big Island, including on the dry side of island in Kona District (See map here. The total area infested has increased rapidly, from ~6,000 acres in 2012 to 38,000 acres in June 2016. Since symptoms do not emerge for more than a year after infection, the infested area is probably larger. ROD kills `ohi`a in all size and age classes. There is no apparent limit based on soil types, climate, or elevation. O`hi`a growing throughout the islands appears to be vulnerable, from cracks in new volcanic areas to weathered soils; in dry as well as mesic and wet climates. The pathogen is probably spread by spores sticking to wood-boring insects and – over short distances – wind transport of insect frass.

Federal and state agencies are spending $850,000 on research on the disease, possible vectors, and potential containment measures. Additional funds would be needed to implement any strategies, and to expand outreach to try to limit human movement of infected plants or soil.

The Hawaii Department of Agriculture adopted an interim rule in August, 2015 which restricts the movement of `ohi`a plants, plant parts, wood, and frass and sawdust from Hawai`i Island to neighboring islands. Soil was included in the interim rule with an effective date of January 1, 2016. In March 2016, HDOA approved permit conditions for movement of soil to other islands. The interim rule is expected to be made permanent at a meeting of the Board of Agriculture on 18 October.

Other invasive species threatening the i`iwi are feral ungulates, including pigs (Sus scrofa), goats (Capra hircus), and axis deer (Axis axis). All degrade `ohi`a forest habitat by spreading nonnative plant seeds and grazing on and trampling native vegetation. Their impact is exacerbated by the large number of invasive nonnative plants, which prevent or retard regeneration of `ohi`a forest. Drought combined with invasion by nonnative grasses have promoted increased fire frequency and the conversion of mesic `ohi`a woodland to exotic grassland in many areas of Hawaii.

The feral pigs pose a particular threat because by wallowing and overturning tree ferns (Cibotium spp.) they create pools of standing water in which the mosquitoes breed. The US FWS has concluded that management of feral pigs – across large landscapes – might be a strategic component of programs aimed at managing avian malaria and pox.

One possible source of hope: research into genetic manipulation of the mosquito disease vector by using tools from synthetic biology and genomics (see draft species status report . Considerable research is probably necessary before such a tool might be implemented.

Plant Pest Threat to Endangered Animals is Not Limited to Hawai`i

The USFWS is struggling to deal with the threat posed by plant pests to listed species. In San Diego, California, FWS personnel are trying to decide how to address the threat posed by the Kuroshio shot hole borer (read description here to willows which constitute essential riparian habitat for the least Bell’s vireo.

Numerous cactus species that have been listed as endangered or threatened might be attacked by two insects from Argentina, the cactus moth and Harissia cactus mealybug (see my blog from October 2015; or read descriptions here .

Endangered Species Agencies Need to Coordinate with Phytosanitary Agencies

A growing number of species listed under the Endangered Species Act are being threatened by damage to plants from non-native plant insects and pathogens. This growing damage affects not just listed plants – such as the cacti mentioned in this and the October blogs; but also plants that are vitally important habitat components on which listed animals depend. The USFWS needs to engage with other federal and state agencies and academic institutions which are working to prevent introduction of additional plant pests, slow the spread of those already in the United States, and develop and implement strategies intended to restore plant species that have been seriously depleted by such pests. The USFWS should, therefore, work more closely with USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Forest Service. USFWS must, of course, continue to work with experts in wildlife and wildlife disease.

Similarly, state wildlife agencies also need to coordinate their efforts with their counterparts in state departments of Agriculture and divisions of Forestry.

Many agencies in Hawai`i play crucial roles in protecting the Islands’ unique plant and animal communities:

U.S. Department of the Interior: Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, United States Geological Service Biological Resources Division
US. Department of Agriculture: APHIS, Forest Service, Agriculture Research Service, National Institute of Food and Agriculture
US. Department of Homeland Security Bureau of Customs and Border Protection.
Hawai`i State Department of Agriculture and Department of Land and Natural Resources

Hawaiians of all types – federal and state employees and agencies, academics, and conservationists – deserve our thanks for promptly taking action of rapid ohia death. All parties should make every effort to obtain the remainder of the funds needed to carry forward crucial research on ROD and avian malaria. Those of us from the mainland need to support and help their efforts.

Posted by Faith Campbell

Let’s Work Together to Curtail Threat to Our Forests from Non-Native Pests

Dear Forest Pest Mavens,

I believe you agree with me that non-native insects, pathogens, earthworms … and other organisms! … pose significant threats to North America’s tree species and the complex ecosystems of which they are such important components.

I hope you also agree that our society’s efforts to counter this threat fall far short of what is needed.

Official phytosanitary policies are not as strong as needed to prevent introduction and spread of these tree-killing pests.
Worse, those policies are not always enforced assertively – as I documented in my blog about a shipment of auto parts posted on 9 August.
The Congress does not provide sufficient funds and other resources to support active detection and response programs – either early in an invasion or later.
Businesses that import or trade in goods or packaging that can transport pests are not held responsible for taking actions aimed at reducing the likelihood of such transport or supporting recovery efforts. Opposing free trade has become a hot button election issue but one of its worst impacts — wholesale movement of pests — is never mentioned.

As I noted in my earlier blog, a key reason we see these weaknesses is because those who want stronger programs have not had an effective voice in educating federal policy-makers – the USDA secretary, senators, and members of Congress – about the damage caused by introduced tree-killing pests and the governmental actions needed to counter those impacts.

The election provides both a deadline and an opportunity.

The deadline: we should try to finalize some APHIS-proposed actions before this Administration leaves office. Outgoing officials often feel freer to take bold actions at this time.

The opportunities:

New officials who take office in January might be open to addressing “new” issues. We must begin efforts now to get our “asks” on their agenda. Specifically, we should approach the senators who will question appointees to USDA Secretary and Under Secretary positions during their confirmation processes. We should urge them to ask candidates how they would address plant pests and to make firm, specific commitments to do so
Also, Congress is beginning to consider provisions to include in the next Farm Bill (due to be passed by 2019).

Several coalitions work to raise the political profile of non-native, tree-killing pests, i.e., the Coalition Against Forest Pests; Sustainable Urban Forestry Coalition; Reduce Risk from Invasive Species Coalition; Continental Dialogue on Non-Native Forest Insects and Diseases. Many of the nation-wide forest-related organizations are members of one or more of these coalitions and I work hard for many of them. They are absolutely essential. . .

However, such “big tent” coalitions are unlikely to press for truly bold solutions, especially if new policies involve serious costs to economic interests or industries that are part of their membership. There is nothing nefarious in this; it is the way coalitions operate. In the case of forests pest issues, though, the absence of more forceful and nimble groups leaves a policy vacuum that no one currently fills.

Furthermore, these coalitions don’t offer an opportunity to concerned individuals and smaller organizations to learn about phytosanitary threats or provide them with opportunities to influence policy.

In the past, I have tried to provide this information through my one-way emails and blog postings. I would like now to upgrade these communications and to provide you with a way to interact with me and others, as well as to form joint positions. The goal is to re-balance the politics of phytosanitary policy – so that our political leaders understand and support both adoption and enforcement of strong, effective phytosanitary measures.

I suggest that we form a new, loose “coalition of the willing” who are ready to speak up and seek ways to stay abreast of developments and opportunities and to coordinate their actions with those of like-minded people. I suggest a loose structure –

I undertake to set up an email network that everyone could use. It would:
- communicate information about pest threats and opportunities to engage;
- communications could be initiated by anyone in the group (either through a “reply all” function or my promise to re-send any email sent to me — with the request that I do so);
- encourage people to work together – with my assistance – to form joint positions;
- provide lists of key contacts for specific issues — perhaps with specific talking points, letter templates, etc., to help in reaching out;
There would be no cost to participants;
Participants could take part anonymously if they wish – either generally or on specific issues;
If there is sufficient interest or need, we could form a steering committee to streamline and help guide the work;
Our goal would be communications that are straight-forward and clear — to each other and to policymakers — while avoiding gratuitous insults or insinuations.

Examples of issues on which I believe a new group could productively engage (and which the “big tent” coalitions likely will avoid) are:

Helping APHIS finalize its proposal to require that wood packaging coming from Canada conform to ISPM#15 standards (see blog posted on 9 August). We need to press the USDA leadership to approve the proposal; then press the Office of Management and Budget to approve it.
Press USDA to take two steps to improve enforcement of ISPM#15:
- End the policy of not fining importers for non-compliant wood packaging until they have five (!) non-compliances within a single year.
- Declare wood packaging to be a high-risk import and thus subject to mandatory inspection by Customs
Press Customs and Border Protection to include wood packaging compliance under its Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program.
Seek agreement on a strategy to encourage importers to shift to packaging made from materials other than solid wood boards. Proposals range from new regulatory requirements to C-TPAT to green certification-type voluntary programs.

I welcome suggestions for other topics we might explore!

Please let me know that you would like to join this coalition. Please feel free to forward this message and to invite others to join in.

[use the “contact” button on the www.cisp.us website]

Faith

A Red List for Trees!

16 dead sweet bay + grp F.T. Campbell dead sweetbay, Florida Everglades

At the global level, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) is the recognized leader in conservation. Information from the IUCN’s Red List has been widely used to inform conservation policies and legislation, as a tool for environmental monitoring and reporting, and to prioritize areas for conservation action.

The IUCN is holding its World Conservation Congress in Honolulu during the first half of September. The several sessions focused on both invasive species and forests have been grouped into “Journeys”. The invasive species Journey schedule is available here. The schedule for the forest Journey is available here I don’t think either puts much emphasis on the year-old Tree Specialist Group.

Over the decades, the Union has increasingly engaged on plant conservation issues. The plants under consideration now include trees! There are multiple ways that you can be part of this important effort. Details are below. One of the efforts’ leaders assures me that the IUCN process will address tree species not yet “endangered” but under severe pressure – currently or virtually certainly in the near future – from established non-native insects and pathogens.

The IUCN has noted that trees have high ecological, economic, and cultural value. Forests are being converted or degraded by many human-related activities, including overharvesting, fire and grazing – to say nothing of climate change and non-native pests. Yet – the impacts of forest conversion and degradation on tree species per se are largely unknown. How many tree species qualify for a “Red List” category: extinct, critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable? (For a discussion of the criteria applied in assigning categories, go here.

(Of course, full-scale extinction or endangerment of a species is the extreme; ecological damage begins earlier and more locally, as the species declines as the result of a suite of pressures …)

The IUCN has formed a Global Tree Specialist Group to conduct a comprehensive conservation assessment of the world’s tree species, linked to IUCN’s Red List. The effort is being led by the Tree Specialist Group and the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). The group’s mission, underlying considerations and process are described in an article published in the Oryx article cited below.

IUCN has recently completed analyses of extinction risk in selected animal groups. They concluded that 14% of bird, 33% of amphibian, and 22% of mammal species are either threatened or extinct.

Preparing the same type of analysis for tree species will be more complicated. First there are many more plant species than ones in the selected groups of animals. Scientists don’t know the total number of extant tree species. One estimate is 60,000. If that estimate is in the ballpark, the status of approximately 84% of tree species has not yet been assessed. Assessments of tree species begun in the 1990s have resulted in approximately 9,500 species being included in one of the Red List categories. They represent slightly less than half of all plant species listed.

To achieve the goal of assessing the status of all tree species by 2020, organizers plan to adopt the approach used successfully in the recent assessments of vertebrate groups – mobilizing global data sets (which have become more numerous and easier to use) and hundreds of volunteer experts.

To start, the Group is focused on specific plant families with high numbers of trees, e.g., Aquifoliaceae, Fabaceae, Fagaceae, Lauraceae, Meliaceae and Myrtaceae. Combined, these families include more than 20,000 species. Assessments of Betulaceae and Ebenaceae have already started, led by BGCI and the Missouri Botanical Garden, respectively.

Project leaders hope to complete 5,000 more tree assessments – new or updates – during 2016.

What is Under Way

Other IUCN specialist groups are assisting in assessing the status of trees in various geographic regions or with particular human uses. The IUCN Plants for People initiative is already assessing timber, medicinal and crop wild relatives. The Crop Wild Relative Specialist Group has prepared draft assessments for over 90 woody species of Malus, Prunus, Pistacia and Mangifera. Specialist Groups and Red List authorities in South Africa, Brazil, and East Africa and several island groups are contributing.

A third focus will be tree species presumed to be most at risk from climate change, e.g., montane and island trees. IUCN Specialist Groups in Hawai`i, New Caledonia, Galapagos, Mascarene Islands, Fiji, and Madagascar are working.

The BGCI is making progress on assessing Europe’s non-coniferous trees. If you wish to help, contact Malin Rivers at malin.rivers@bgci.org.

In North America, the U.S. Forest Service hosted a meeting on “Gene Conservation of Tree Species” at the Morton Arboretum in Chicago in May 2016. Murphy Westwood facilitated a special session during which “listing” experts from IUCN, NatureServe, USFS CAPTURE Program, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service compared their assessment processes and discussed how data might be shared more efficiently. A goal of completing the IUCN Red List of North American Trees was agreed on. The Morton Arboretum will help coordinate the effort. To contribute please contact Murphy Westwood at mwestwood@morton.org.

One suggestion was to conduct an IUCN Red List assessment for the genus Fraxinus. Two ash species – one Asian, one Central American – are included in the IUCN Red List (although one needs to be updated). Jeanne Romero-Severson of Notre Dame University has offered to undertake assessments for green ash, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, and black ash, Fraxinus nigra. If you wish to help, contact Sara Oldfield at sara@saraoldfield.net.

(I think several other species also warrant IUCN assessment, including redbay Persea borbonia, tanoak Notholithocarpus densiflorus, and whitebark pine Pinus albicaulis)

This IUCN effort represents yet a fourth set of people examining tree-pest interactions – people integrated into traditional, internationally-focused conservation organizations. There are at least three other groups already involved: (1) forest pest experts in academia and government agencies, (2) people who focus on invasive species, and (3) phytosanitary officials. I think that these latter three groups already interact less smoothly than would be ideal. How can we all combine our efforts to enhance protection programs?

Might more of the scientists who work on insects and pathogens attacking tree species join the IUCN Tree Specialist group? Might organizers of meetings make a greater effort to engage people from all four silos in discussions of strategies? Might some virtual for a be established that could facilitate communication across the gaps – perhaps emphasizing the gap between invasive species experts and phytosanitary officials?

Finally, how can we use the new focus on tree species’ degree of endangerment to enhance efforts to prevent and respond to invasions by non-native insects and pathogens? How do we link these concerns to existing attention to the ecological and economic impacts – which begin to manifest long before a species qualifies as “endangered”. How can the various approaches reinforce each other?

SOURCES

Newton, A., S. Oldfield, M. Rivers, J. Mark, G. Schatz, N. Tejedor Garavito, E. Cantarello, D. Golicher, L. Cayuela, and L. Miles. 2015. Towards a Global Tree Assessment. Oryx, Volume 49, Issue 3, July 2015, pp. 410-415.

Explanatory information available at

https://www.bgci.org/plant-conservation/globaltreeassessment/

Click to access GTALeaflet%20FINAL.pdf

The GTSG Newsletter is apparently available only to those who are part of the IUCN network.

For more information, contact Sara Oldfield, Co-Chair GTSG, at sara@saraoldfield.net

Posted by Faith Campbell

What Happens When Decision-Makers (= politicians) Don’t Hear from Us

Decisions and delays that undermine vital phytosanitary programs …

Michigan’s champion green ash – before and after emerald ash borer entered the state

Examples:

Sometimes, when a shipment arriving at a U.S. port is found to be enclosed in wood packaging that is infested by pests, the importers complain to top-level officials. Sometimes, those officials respond to the pressure by allowing that shipment to enter the country – contrary to policy and common sense.

I learned recently of a particularly upsetting situation. A shipment of car parts arrived at a seaport. The wood packaging was found to be infested by a wood-boring insect that attacks pines and possibly other conifers. Because adults were present, the shipment could not be fumigated – because adult insects can escape during that process.

According to U.S. regulations, the shipment should have been refused entry to the U.S. and placed back on the ship to be transported elsewhere.

But what happened instead? The importer – a major auto manufacturer – complained to Michigan political leaders that delay in receiving the “just in time” shipment would result in halting production and unemployment.

Michigan governor Snyder and both Senator Debbie Stabenow and Senator Gary Peters put pressure on the U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture (who supervises APHIS) and Homeland Security (who supervises the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection). The two secretaries agreed to allow movement of the pest-infested shipment from the seaport across half the country to Michigan. They overruled their staffs and endangered our forests – most immediately along the shipment route. Those forests provide wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration, water supplies and other ecosystem serves; as well as numerous jobs and industries. It will be years before we know whether pests escaped the containers during transport and established in any of the wildland, rural, or urban forests along the route.

Had the shipment been refused entry — as the law requires — a new shipment in pest-free crates would have arrived within weeks.

It is particularly ironic that this pressure was exerted by Michigan officials. You would think that Michigan officials would remember the devastation to their state caused by the emerald ash borer and — instead — press for vigorous enforcement of effective phytosanitary rules.

Of course, the Federal officials responsible for protecting our Nation from damaging plant pests should be strong in the face of political pressure. They should enforce regulations adopted through the appropriate regulatory processes. However, in this case, they chose the politically expedient action instead of carrying out their legal responsibilities.

A second example:

Since 2010, APHIS and its Canadian counterpart, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, have tried to amend the two countries’ regulations to require that wood packaging used to support or contain goods traded between the two countries conform to the international standard (ISPM#15). (When they initially adopted ISPM#15 in 2004, the U.S. and Canada exempted their bilateral trade.)

Why end this exemption? Both countries realize that each country harbors pests – native or introduced – that could pose a threat to forests in the other country. Also, the exemption complicates enforcement of the standard for shipments that originated elsewhere, e.g., in Europe or Asia.

For example, shipments of Italian decorative tiles that had been held in Canadian warehouses have been sent later to retailers in the U.S. Shippers have claimed that the pallets supporting the tiles are of Canadian origin, so they don’t need to have the stamp certifying treatment. Customs officials say that sometimes the evidence counters this claim – leading them to conclude that the pallet actually accompanied the load of tiles throughout its movement from Italy and thus is in violation of both U.S. and Canadian rules. I expect that Canadians could cite examples of the same problem arising with shipments from U.S. warehouses to Canadian retailers.

Still, despite the need to end the exemption, APHIS’ proposed rule has been stuck at higher levels in the Department of Agriculture due to opposition by the Chamber of Commerce and some business associations.

Why are top-level politicians and other officials undermining phytosanitary programs? Do they not know the costs they’re risking?

I think it is at least partly because those of who know about the pest risk associated with wood packaging lack powerful and vocal allies who can educate the policy-makers about the damaged caused by introduced tree-killing pests.

For a reminder – woodborers have been estimated by Aukema et al. 2011 to cost local governments $1.7 billion per year; homeowners pay another $760 million to remove dead trees from their property. For more information, see also my blogs posted in July, August, September, and October 2016; fact sheets posted here and articles by Aukema et al. 2011 and Lovett et al. 2016. Remember that the costs discussed in these papers don’t reflect the vast majority of environmental and ecosystem losses, including disruption of such unique ecosystems as black ash swamps from New Brunswick to Minnesota and tree hammocks in the Everglades. Nor do they include the losses of cultural resources to Native Americans, such as basket weavers of the North and medicinal plants for Tribes in Florida …

You would think that federal and state officials who have lived through the disasters resulting from introduced wood-borers would want strict enforcement of customs and plant health regulations intended to prevent introduction of additional tree-killing pests. But these people respond to what they hear from the public and the media – perhaps the loudest voice they heard most recently. Unfortunately, people who care about invasive species – specifically tree-killing insects and pathogens – don’t have spokespeople.

Do you think the President or even Secretary of Agriculture is hearing about tree-killing pests every week? From whom? Not the Chief of the USDA Forest Service. Not the forest products industry. Not leaders of conservation organizations. Do governors, mayors, or heads of state agriculture or conservation agencies speak to Senators or Members of Congress — routinely and repeatedly — about the need to better protect our forests from non-native pests?

The evidence is that they do not. And what is the result? These decision-makers respond to pressure from importers who want access to traded goods – and who are quite vocal about their complaints. Politics is how our country makes important decisions. And in politics, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

When was the last time any of these officials – USDA Secretary Vilsack, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, Governor Rick Snyder, Senators Stabenow and Peters – heard from constituents or from leaders of the agencies under their jurisdiction about the importance of preventing introduction of new wood-boring insects? When did a Michigan news media outlet last publish a report that discussed the pathways or vectors by which these insects enter the country and the importance of enforcing rules adopted to prevent additional introductions?

I recognize that it can be difficult for staff to get the attention of their supervisors on such issues. For example, I have been told by several people that California Governor Jerry Brown was surprised to learn that sudden oak death had killed millions of trees in his state. How did he “learn” this? From an article in the Washington Post that reported on a recent scientific study (Cuniffe et al. 2016). Staff of CalFire were very frustrated that their efforts to educate the Governor had not resulted in his understanding the pathogen’s impact.

So – what can we do to re-balance the politics of phytosanitary policy – so that our political leaders understand why phytosanitary rules are adopted and support both adoption and enforcement of strong, effective measures?

We need to

Speak up at every opportunity about the damage to our trees caused by non-native insects and pathogens and describe the policies and programs that can reduce that damage and the risk of additional introductions.
1. Tell this story to elected officials at all levels
2. Write letters to the editors of media outlets
3. Offer to show officials and reporters examples of the damage
Educate members of other stakeholder groups and ask them to integrate this message into their interactions with officials and the media.

Remember:

Election seasons provide opportunities to raise issues.
People taking up positions in January (whether elected or appointed) will be more open to learning about “new” issues than have been people who have occupied an office for some time.

Finally – these messages need to be repeated periodically. Proctor and Gamble does not make its profits by asking us to buy their toothpaste once a year. We cannot duplicate a major corporation’s advertising budget – but we can speak up!

SOURCES

Aukema, J.E., B. Leung, K. Kovacs, C. Chivers, K. O. Britton, J. Englin, S.J. Frankel, R. G. Haight, T. P. Holmes, A. Liebhold, D.G. McCullough, B. Von Holle.^. 2011. Economic Impacts of Non-Native Forest Insects in the Continental United States PLoS One September 2011 (Volume 6 Issue 9)

Cunniffe, N.J., R.C. Cobb, R.K. Meentemeyer, D.M. Rizzo, and C.A. Gilligan. Modeling when, where, and how to manage a forest epidemic, motivated by SOD in California. PNAS, May 2016 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1602153113

Lovett,G.M., M. Weiss, A.M. Liebhold, T.P. Holmes, B. Leung, K.F. Lambert, D.A. Orwig, F.T. Campbell, J. Rosenthal, D.G. McCullough, R. Wildova, M.P. Ayres, C.D. Canham, D.R. Foster, S.L. LaDeau, and T. Weldy. 2016. Nonnative forest insects and pathogens in the United States: Impacts and policy options. Ecological Applications, 0(0), 2016, pp. 1–19. DOI 10.1890/15-1176.1

Posted by Faith Campbell

Why doesn’t state government take action to contain pests that threaten to cost 20 million Californians $1,800 apiece?

(The total cost will exceed $36 billion – which will be borne largely by homeowners and municipalities – meaning their taxpayers. The state will bear little of this cost.)

PB036597 fate-sm sm willow tree in Tijuana River riparian area felled by KSHB. Photo by John Boland; used by permission

(To see more scary photos of the damage along the Tijuana River taken by John Boland, go here.

The polyphagous (PSHB) and Kuroshio (KSHB) shot hole borers pose a great threat to many tree species in California – native species in natural and urban settings; non-native species used in plantings; and agricultural crops. Yet the state government is frozen in inaction.

These two shot hole borers attack hundreds of tree species; at least 40 are reproductive hosts. For details, view the write-up here or visit the UC Riverside website here.

Some of the important reproductive hosts for PSHB are listed here; those that are also known to support reproduction of the Kuroshio shot hole borer are marked by an asterisk.

Box elder (Acer negundo)
Big leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) *
California sycamore (Platanus racemosa)
Several willows (Salix spp.)
Cottonwoods (Populus fremontii & P. trichocarpa)
Several oaks (Quercus agrifolia, Q. engelmannii, Q. lobata)

Several widespread exotic species also support PSHB reproduction: they include the invasive castor bean (Ricinus communis) and widely-planted London plane tree (Platanus x acerifolia).

US Forest Service scientist Greg McPherson has analyzed the vulnerability to PSHB of urban forests in cities in three regions of southern California: the Inland Empire, Coastal Southern California, and Southwest Desert. Together, these comprise 4,244 sq. miles and have 20.5 million residents. Dr. McPherson found that:

1) Approximately 26.8 million trees – 37.8% of the region’s 70.8 million trees – are at risk. Trees at risk include

5 million coast live oaks,
4 million ash,
3 million sycamores and plane trees,
9 million stone fruit or flowering Prunus species,
5 million avocadoes, and
8 million citrus trees.

2) The cost for removing and replacing the 26.8 million trees would be approximately $36.2 billion. This amount averages to $1,768 per capita.

3) The value of ecosystem services forgone each year due to the loss of these trees is $1.4 billion.

4) These estimates are conservative because they:

do not include costs associated with damage to people and property from tree failures, as well as increased risk of fire and other hazards
may undervalue benefits of trees to human health and well-being; and
do not include newly detected host species or the shot borers’ spread.

These disasters are highly likely to occur given the extent of current infestations and difficulty in curtailing spread of the beetle/fungus complex.

Natural areas – especially riparian areas – are also at risk. John Boland reports that 70% of willows studied in the Tijuana River riparian area on the California/Mexico border were infested by KSHB. Tree branches and boles weakened by beetle attack broke in the first winter storms in early 2016. In some sections, “native riparian forest … went from a dense stand of tall willows to a jumble of broken limbs in just a few months.” Trees growing in the wettest parts of the riparian area were most heavily attacked and damaged. Three highly invasive plant species – castor bean, salt cedar, and giant reed – are barely or not attacked by KSHB. The result of the damage to native willows and likely proliferation of the invasive plants is likely to be significant alteration of the entire biological system.

(While no one knows how KSHB reached the Tijuana River, John Boland says there is a greenwaste “recycling” center in the valley. See picture below, taken by John Boland.)

Regulatory action could help protect wildland, rural, and urban forests in the rest of the state – and possibly beyond. Scientists’ analysis of climate indicates that most of the urban and agricultural areas in California are at risk. The scientists have also begun analyzing the potential risk to other parts of country.

Why is the California government so unwilling to tackle a threat of this magnitude?

I have written about this inaction several times as it applies to the goldspotted oak borer. See my blogs on 1) California’s inaction on firewood in July 2015; 2) GSOB and firewood in September 2015; 3) contrasting states’ action on mussels with inaction on firewood posted in December 2015; and 4) the threats to oaks, posted in April 2016.

In October CISP joined an eminent forest entomologist, Dr. David Wood of the Department of Natural Resources at the University of California, Berkeley. We petitioned the California Department of Food and Agriculture to regulate movement of firewood within the state. CDFA refused, saying that the absence of control points through which firewood could be funneled made efforts to regulate its movements impractical. (For copies of our letter and CDFA’s reply, contact me through the “contact” button on the CISP website.)

While there are many questions about practical aspects of implementing and enforcing such regulations, I do not believe they are insurmountable.

I concede that CDFA has provided significant funds for firewood outreach campaigns. But people care about the threat posed by these pests and want CDFA to act. In the meantime, concerned people have formed formal partnerships linking local, county, state, and federal officials and academics to coordinate efforts to manage both GSOB and the PSHB and KSHB. Groups’ efforts can be viewed here and here. CalFire and the California Fire Wood Task Force are active participants.

During a recent conference call sponsored by the California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association’ Pest Prevention Committee, participants reinforced the damaging consequences of CDFA’s inaction:

While scientists are developing new tools for detection of the polyphagous and Kuroshio beetles and the fungi, there are no funds to support their use in a more intensive detection trapping effort!!!!! Call participants discussed various potential funding sources (e.g., from competitive grant programs operated by various agencies). Some survey efforts have been funded – by USDA APHIS:
1. UC Riverside Professor Richard Stouthamer received Farm Bill §10007 funds for two years to develop traps and lures for PSHB.
2. CDFA participates in a national woodborer survey which is funded by APHIS.
In the absence of CDFA designation of PSHB, KSHB, or GSOB as regulated pests, neither state nor county agencies have a firm foundation on which to base regulations to curtail movement of firewood, greenwaste, or other pathways by which these pests can be spread to new areas.

It is clear from the discussion during the call that many people understand the need for regulations to ban movement of firewood out of southern California. But so far they have not succeeded in building sufficient political support to bring this about.

Meanwhile, other federal agencies are beginning to perceive the risk posed by these pests – and are struggling to develop responses. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is trying to develop strategies to protect the forested wetlands, which are habitats for the endangered least Bell’s vireo (a bird) and other endangered species. However, the USFWS lacks funds to carry forward desired detection and other programs. The USFWS offices in California are trying to engage agency leadership on this threat. So far, Endangered Species Act §7 requirements have not restricted removal of infested trees in wetlands already invaded by PSHB or KSHB.

Santa Monica National Recreation Area is the first National Park Service unit to pay attention. I have written in the past that the National Park Service should adopt a nation-wide policy banning visitors from bringing their own firewood to campgrounds (see my blogs from August and October 2015). In the absence of a nation-wide policy, action by individual units is important.

The USDA Forest Service is already engaged, especially with detection and outreach. However, the USFS also does not have nation-wide policy restricting campers from taking their own firewood to campgrounds on National forests.

Many Californians are pushing for action … they need our help! If you live in California, contact your state legislators. If you live elsewhere, your forests are also at risk from the state’s failure to act. So, if you know someone who lives there, ask that person to contact his/her legislators. Ask the legislators to demand state designation of PSHB, KSHB, and GSOB as quarantine pests and adoption of state firewood regulations.

SOURCE:

Memorandum from Greg McPherson, USDA Forest Service, to John Kabashima Re: Potential Impact of PSHB and FD on Urban Trees in Southern California, April 26, 2016

Posted by Faith Campbell

Funding Levels Reveal Low Priority for Combatting Tree-Killing Pests

As the recent article demonstrated, non-native insects and pathogens pose a unique threat to America’s forests. See also my blog posted May 10.

As Scott Schlarbaum and I said in Fading Forests III:

“Ultimately, then, the future of American forests is in the hands of our nation’s people. In choosing our elected representatives, holding other government officials accountable, and making our private choices, we decide the priority of whether addressing the causes and solutions to these pest issues is a priority – and, thus, whether we will keep of our natural heritage. There is already a strong foundation for action.”

However, American society – as reflected in its political decisions – has not put a high priority on countering this threat. We outlined the long history of inadequate funding for USDA APHIS and USFS in chapters III and VI. Also, I wrote about the appropriations process for Fiscal Year 2017 (which begins in October) in my blog posted on March 22.

Recent action by the House of Representatives (see below) might signal a change. We shall have to wait to see whether this change lasts.

APHIS Funding

Too often, we think first of U.S. Forest Service funding as singularly important regarding non-native forest pests and pathogens. When it comes to prevention, though, its USDA’s Animal and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) that is key.

Total funding for the USDA APHIS in FY17 will be on the order of $939 million. The budget for its plant health program is about $310 million. Included in this sum are mere tens of millions for addressing tree-killing pests:

Tree and wood pests — $54 million in the Senate bill, but only $45.9 million in the House bill
“specialty crops” — $167.5 million in the House bill, $158 million in the Senate bill; with only about $5 million likely to be spent on managing the sudden oak death pathogen, especially movement of infected plants, soil, etc. in the nursery trade.

The Center for Invasive Species Prevention and others had requested the higher number for “tree and wood pests”. We think higher funding is appropriate given the number of highly damaging wood-boring insects already in the country – e.g., Asian longhorned beetle; emerald ash borer; redbay ambrosia beetle and its associated laurel wilt pathogen; the polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers and their associated pathogens … (all these species are described here). Furthermore, there is every likelihood that additional pests will be detected in the country since the wood packaging pathways remains leaky (see the Lovett et al. article cited above and my blogs about the wood packaging material pathway posted in July through October 2015).

The House bill specifies that $15 million of the “specialty crops” money should be allocated to citrus pests and pathogens, fruit flies, a grapevine pest and a multi-host pest (light brown apple moth).

USFS Forest Health Funding

Funding levels for the USDA Forest Service also demonstrate a low priority to countering non-native tree-killing insects and pathogens.

Total funding for the USFS is about $5 billion. In making its request for $4.9 billion, the Administration allocated only $92 million to countering threats to forest health (on both federal and non-federal lands).

The House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committee has a different – and welcome – view: the House bill provides $114.6 million for forest health protection. This is $15 million above the FY16 level and $22.55 million above the Administration’s request – a substantial increase unequaled in past years. The accompanying committee report expresses concern about severe insect and disease threats, especially in California. The report also notes that invasive forest pests threaten more than 58 million acres of the Nation’s forests. The Committee encourages the Service to continue its work to assess future risks, control existing threats, research and develop new control methods, and improve the health of forest ecosystems. Since only $5 million of the increase is to be used on non-federal lands, the “bump-up” for non-native pests will be modest.

A note of caution: the House expansion of funding for the forest health program was doubtless made easier by the House’s cuts to programs managed by the Environmental Protection Agency, which is funded by the same bill.)

The Senate bill follows the Administration in allocating only $92 million for forest health protection.

Not only has the Administration asked for less for the forest health program in recent years. The funding allocations within that total trouble me. In the current year (FY16), the USFS allocated only $20.2 million (15% of total forest health funds for this year) to specific projects targeting non-native insects or pathogens. Nearly $10 million of these funds went to just one species – European gypsy moth. The only other species receiving a significant proportion of the funds is hemlock woolly adelgid – HWA received $1.77 million. The second greatest allocation was to oak wilt — $466,000. Ranking third is white pine blister rust, which was allocated $420,000. A group of three species (goldspotted oak borer, thousand cankers disease, and laurel wilt) received a total $587,000. This low figure does not, in my view, reflect the great damage caused by goldspotted oak borer and laurel wilt. Furthermore, I assume that the polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers are included in this grouping, although they are not listed specifically. Both shot hole borers threaten many tree species in southern California riparian areas, and pose a possible threat to trees in other parts of the country. All of these species are expected to receive less funding in FY17 under the Administration’s request. (Again, all these species are described here).

(Native pests – southern and western bark beetles – received a total of $7.2 million in FY16. Invasive plants were allocated $1.7 million. These figures are not included in my calculations in the preceding paragraph.)

USFS Research Funding

The House appropriations bill provides just under $292 million for research – the amount requested by the Administration. The Senate bill cut funding for research to $280 million – a cut of $11 million from the FY16 level. Worse, the Senate also added $2 million to the share of research funding allocated to foerst inventory. The only mention of non-native pests and diseases in the report accompanying the Senate bill is a paragraph instructing the USFS to work with the USDI Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, USDA APHIS, and state agencies to address the threat to the Hawaiian Islands’ `ohi`a trees from the Ceratocystis fungus (the disease is described here). This report emphasizes the importance of continuing research on forest product utilization.

Even more troubling, for years the USFS has allocated only about 3% of its total research budget to research on “pest” species (including invasive plants). Of this total, about half – $5 million – has been allocated to projects targeting non-native insects or pathogens. This year (FY16), the highest funding went to hemlock woolly adelgid, at $1.782 million. The second greatest amount was allocated to emerald ash borer — $1.168 million.

(In FY16, the non-native western bark beetles received nearly $1.4 million in research funding; invasive plants received nearly $1.9 million. Again, these figures are not included in my calculations above. )

USFS Wildfire Funding

One explanation for the Administration’s lower funding requests is the great pressure on the USFS to fund management of wildfire. The agency now spends more than half of its annual budget to fight wildfires. This situation is expected to get worse as the climate warms and fires become even more frequent and intense.

The Obama Administration’s budget proposals for both FY16 and FY17 asked Congress to set up a system to pay the costs of fighting extreme wildfires in the same way it finances the federal response to other natural disasters. When hurricanes and tornadoes cause sufficient damage to be declared disasters by the president, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is authorized to exceed its annual budget and draw on a special disaster account. The account is adjusted each year to reflect the 10-year average cost of responding to such events. President Obama suggested creating a similar exception for USDA Forest Service and Department of the Interior.

Currently, the USFS must obtain funds through annual Congressional appropriations – which are adopted too early for an accurate assessment of that season’s likely fire damage. When fire-fighting costs exceed the appropriation, the USFS must transfer money from other accounts – setting back forest restoration projects and efforts aimed at preventing wildfires.

The Obama administration asked Congress to end the need for such transfers by appropriating 70% of the 10-year average it costs to fight wildfires each year and allowing the Forest Service access to a disaster fund.

However, the Congress has been unwilling so far to establish the disaster fund.

Conclusion

The House bill’s welcome increase for the USFS forest health protection program – if enacted – would address pests that are already widespread. Programs aimed at preventing introductions and responding to newly detected invasions – programs operated by APHIS – do not yet enjoy sufficient support from either the Administration or the Congress.

Advocates for stronger programs to combat non-native forest pests are exploring ways to ensure additional funding for key programs, especially early detection of and rapid response to newly detected outbreaks. You will hear more about these ideas in future!

SOURCES

Descriptions of the Administration’s fire-funding proposal can be found at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/us/obama-to-propose-shift-in-wildfire-funding.html?_r=0&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=U.S.&action=keypress&region=FixedLeft&pgtype=article

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/253687-obama-officials-press-congress-to-change-wildfire-funding

Posted by Faith Campbell

Junk the international phytosanitary system? One seed breeder says yes.

If you have read my earlier work, you know that I think the international phytosanitary “system” is not working well to prevent introduction of novel arthropods and pathogens that attack naïve plant hosts in the new ecosystem. For example, see my blog in May on the study of introduced forest pests with Gary Lovett as senior author; my blog in April 2016 on Phytopththoras in Europe; discussions of the problems in my reports, Fading Forests II and Fading Forests III – available here.

the IPPC is located in Rome

One plant breeder has read the critiques by Clive Brasier (world-famous British forest pathologist) and others and apparently concluded that the solution is not to strengthen phytosanitary measures but to abandon them! He suggests that instead of attempting to prevent pest introductions, agriculture should instead rely on new breeding technologies to rapidly breed plants that are resistant to the introduced pest.

D. Zamir (who works at the Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) has published an article in Plos 1 Biology citing Brasier’s criticisms (see Dr. Brasier’s web link above and my Phytophthora blog). Zamir calls for the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) to launch a global plant breeding project. In his view, such a project would not only improve plant species’ resilience vis a vis pest attacks. It would also build the scientific capacity of countries with high biological diversity

Zamir says that the IPPC is waging a losing defensive strategy that imposes ever-more regulations on plant movement and exposes those who would like to move plants for various reasons to increasingly heavy penalties if they violate the rules. At the same time, the internet provides unlimited opportunities for anyone to obtain mail-ordered seed, often with free international shipping.

Citing Brasier, Zamir notes that the current phytosanitary system has the following flaws:

The system ignores the approximately 90% of pathogens that are unknown to science.
It assumes that potential hosts will be taxonomically related to those affected in the country of origin, whereas the host range may be much wider in the new environment.
Reliance on visual evaluations fails because pathogens might be present in a form that does not cause symptoms (e.g., spores).
Aggressive pathogens identified in a particular country might not be recognized as a risky pest by the international community because of inefficient global communication of such threats.

Zamir says that biological diversity drives improvements in crop productivity and resilience to diseases and environmental stresses. In his view, release of new varieties provides added value to consumers, producers, and the environment. Breeding programs often rely on the use of wild species and local varieties for gene mapping and rapid deployment of traits. However, Zamir complains, the international system hampers exchanges of seed among countries. It is often not possible to ascertain if the original seed used as a source of the traits was obtained in accordance with all the phytosanitary regulations. Zamir says that breeders often “cut through the red tape” by sending the seed through the mail without obtaining a phytosanitary certificate.

Zamir then proposes that people concerned about plant productivity and health in the face of growing trade volumes and vulnerability to insects and pathogens should abandon reliance measures intended to prevent introductions of pests and instead launch a massive plant breeding program.

While his focus is apparently on crop breeding, Zamir cites success in breeding elm trees resistant to the Dutch elm disease pathogens as proof that this approach can work – and that success depends on access to the full genetic variability of the target species.

Zamir concedes that he has not addressed issues of governance, financing, selection of the species to be included in the program, and how to involve the private sector.

Of course, movement of seeds across ecological barriers poses less of a risk of introducing an alien pest than does movement of whole plants or cuttings. For that reason, phytosanitary regulations governing seed movement are more lenient than those for plants and cuttings.

I consider Zamir to wildly underestimate the difficulty – nay, impossibility – of applying his approach. To date, efforts to breed trees resistant to individual pests have required decades of effort. The U.S. tree breeding system falls far short of what is needed to respond to pests already in the country (see Chapter 6 of Fading Forests III, available here). For example, American chestnut has benefitted from decades of devoted effort – but success in countering chestnut blight is not yet certain, and the tree is under attack by another half-dozen pests. (To see a reminder of how many tree taxa are under threat from non-native pests, go to the write-ups on the Don’t Move Firewood website or re-read articles by Lovett et al. or Aukema et al. 2010 — citations provided below.)

Even though modern genetic techniques, e.g., CRISPR –Cas9, seem to promise faster and cheaper breeding methods, how would breeding programs catch up to the tidal wave of new introductions?

Furthermore, few breeding programs for North American forest trees have yet proved a capacity to restore trees to the forest.

Finally, Zamir’s proposal would compound the existing equity problem. Already, the cost, environmental degradation, and other burdens of countering pest spread lie predominantly on the receiving society – including municipal tax payers and homeowners who must remove and replace trees killed by introduced pests (see Aukema et al. 2011.) Those who profit from international trade rarely pay directly. Zamir’s proposal would exacerbate that inequity by transferring all the risk of new introductions and cost of responding to new pests to the receiving ecosystem and the broad public. Those profiting from the trade would face next to no responsibility.

Fortunately, most plant breeders engaged in moving seed internationally have taken a more productive approach to adapting the international phytosanitary system to accommodate their business. The North American countries adopted a regional standard on the seed trade (RSPM# 36) in 2012. A draft global standard will soon be circulated for comments by the IPPC member countries.

As I have said before, I call on phytosanitary agencies and the multitude of stakeholders harmed by pest movement – including grant-making foundations; federal and state agencies; conservation non-governmental organizations; forest products companies; trade associations representing various aspects of international trade in plants, wood packaging, and other vectors; and urban tree programs and mayors – to work together to improve U.S. and international phytosanitary programs.

SOURCES

Aukema, J.E., D.G. McCullough, B. Von Holle, A.M. Liebhold, K. Britton, & S.J. Frankel. 2010. Historical Accumulation of Nonindigenous Forest Pests in the Continental United States. Bioscience. December 2010 / Vol. 60 No. 11

Campbell, F.T. and S.E. Schlarbaum. Fading Forests I, II, and III at http://treeimprovement.utk.edu/FadingForests.htm

Lovett, G.M., M. Weiss, A.M. Liebhold, T.P. Holmes, B. Leung, K.F. Lambert, D.A. Orwig , F.T. Campbell , J. Rosenthal, D.G. McCullough, R. Wildova, M.P. Ayres, C.D. Canham, D.R. Foster, S.L. LaDeau, and T. Weldy. 2016. Nonnative forest insects and pathogens in the United States: Impacts and policy options. Ecological Applications, 0(0), 2016, pp. 1–19. DOI 10.1890/15-1176.1 Available at www.caryinstitute.org/tree-smart-trade

Zamir D (2016) Farewell to the Lose–Lose Reality of Policing Plant Imports. PLoS Biol 14(4): e1002438. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002438 Published: April 19, 2016Available at http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1002438 Or http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27093460

Posted by Faith Campbell