Capacity of United States federal government and its partners to rapidly and accurately report the identity (taxonomy) of non-native organisms intercepted in early detection programs

Abstract

The early detection of and rapid response to invasive species (EDRR) depends on accurate and rapid identification of non-native species. The 2016-2018 National Invasive Species Council Management Plan called for an assessment of US government (federal) capacity to report on the identity of non-native organisms intercepted through early detection programs. This paper serves as the response to that action item. Here we summarize survey-based findings and make recommendations for improving the federal government's capacity to identify non-native species authoritatively in a timely manner. We conclude with recommendations to improve accurate identification within the context of EDRR by increasing coordination, maintaining taxonomic expertise, creating an identification tools clearinghouse, developing and using taxonomic standards for naming and identification protocols, expanding the content of DNA and DNA Barcode libraries, ensuring long-term sustainability of biological collections, and engaging and empowering citizens and citizen science groups.

Technology innovation: advancing capacities for the early detection of and rapid response to invasive species

“…In the context of EDRR, the ability to detect and identify organisms in a near-simultaneous manner is ideal, although identification should also be considered tentative until confirmed by a taxonomic expert (authoritative identifier). Additional discussion on federal needs for taxonomic capacity, as well as examples of identification technologies are provided in Lyal and Miller (2019, [SITC] program to search for websites selling regulated insects, weeds, mollusks, fruits and vegetables, and for animals and animal products that have the potential to carry highly pathogenic avian influenza. To the best of our knowledge, ISIMS is now focused on a limited number of plant pests affecting major agricultural commodity crops.…”

Designing a surveillance program for early detection of alien plants and insects in Norway

“…A useful framework for management of invasive species is Early Detection and Rapid Response (EDRR, Lodge et al 2006;Lyal and Miller 2020;Reaser et al 2020). The process of 'early detection' is based on surveys to detect alien species upon arrival or early stages of establishment and before they start to cause harm.…”

“…A 'rapid response' anticipates that measures are more likely to be cost-effective if populations are small or localized and more successful for control of spread or eradication (Simberloff 2003). A comprehensive surveillance program requires stratified sampling of important habitats (Olsen et al 2017), effective tools for rapid identification of unknown organisms (Darling and Blum 2007;Lyal and Miller 2020), and sampling designs that control for imperfect detection of alien species (Tavecchia et al 2017;Davis et al 2018;Fossøy et al 2020). Surveillance for alien invertebrates can be particularly challenging because sorting and morphological identification from bulk samples is time-consuming and costly (Karlsson et al 2020), but molecular methods based on DNA-metabarcoding provide a new tool for rapid biodiversity assessments (Yu et al 2012;Comtet et al 2015;Wang et al 2018).…”

Use of ITS-1 to Identify Bactrocera dorsalis and Bactrocera occipitalis (Diptera: Tephritidae): A Case Study Using Flies Trapped in California from 2008 to 2018

“…Palabras Claves: complejo dorsal; espaciadores internos transcritos; diagnósticos; especies invasivas Accurate identification of agricultural pests that are trapped during surveillance or intercepted during inspections provides important information that may be used for trend and risk analysis (Garzón-Orduña et al 2020;Lyal & Miller 2020). For example, identification of intercepted insects may be used to evaluate high risk pathways, and the level of diagnosis of these intercepted insects (e.g., to species, genus, or family level) may impact interpretation of the data (Liebhold et al 2006).…”

“…Population genetic studies require knowledge of species identity to complete source estimation based on correct pest distribution records and reference data (Barr et al 2014b). Failure to identify a species correctly would result in less-than-optimal decision making regarding surveillance and management (Lyal & Miller 2020). For example, Clarke and Schutze (2014) review an instance when failure to quickly recognize the presence of the fly Bactrocera musae (Tryon) (Diptera: Tephritidae) on the Gazelle Peninsula of East New Britain, Papua New Guinea, contributed to its spread.…”