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Review article - Peer-reviewed, 2023

Citizen science can enhance strategies to detect and manage invasive forest pests and pathogens

Hulbert, Joseph M. M.; Hallett, Richard A. A.; Roy, Helen E. E.; Cleary, Michelle

Abstract

Incorporating a citizen science approach into biological invasion management strategies can enhance biosecurity. Many citizen science projects exist to strengthen the management of forest pest and pathogen invasions within both pre- and post-border scenarios. Besides the value of citizen science initiatives for early detection and monitoring, they also contribute widely to raising awareness, informing decisions about eradication and containment efforts to minimize pest and pathogen spread, and even finding resistant plant material for restoration of landscapes degraded by disease. Overall, many projects actively engage citizens in the different stages of forest pest and pathogen invasions, but it is unclear how they work together across all stages of the entire biological invasion process to enhance biosecurity. Here we provide examples of citizen science projects for each stage of the biological invasion process, discuss options for developing a citizen science program to enhance biosecurity, and suggest approaches for integrating citizen science into biosecurity measures to help safeguard forest resources in the future.

Keywords

citizen science; invasive species; forest health; biosecurity; public engagement

Published in

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
2023, Volume: 11, article number: 1113978
Publisher: FRONTIERS MEDIA SA

    Associated SLU-program

    SLU Plant Protection Network
    SLU Forest Damage Center

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Forest Science

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1113978

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/121595