Optimal Strategies for Interception, Detection, and Eradication in Plant Biosecurity

Abstract

The introduction of invasive species causes damages from the economic and ecological point of view. Interception of plant pests and eradication of the established populations are two management options to prevent or limit the risk posed by an invasive species. Management options generate costs related to the interception at the point of entry, and the detection and eradication of established field populations. Risk managers have to decide how to allocate resources between interception, field detection, containment, and eradication minimizing the expected total costs. In this work is considered an optimization problem aiming at determining the optimal allocation of resources to minimize the expected total costs of the introduction of Bemisia tabaci-transmitted viruses in Europe. The optimization problem takes into account a probabilistic model for the estimation of the percentage of viruliferous insect populations arriving through the trade of commodities, and a population dynamics model describing the process of the vector populations' establishment and spread. The time of field detection of viruliferous insect populations is considered as a random variable. The solution of the optimization problem allows to determine the optimal allocation of the search effort between interception and detection/eradication. The behavior of the search effort as a function of efficacy or search in interception and in detection is then analyzed. The importance of the vector population growth rate and the probability of virus establishment are also considered in the analysis of the optimization problem.

Non-linear physiological responses to climate change: the case of Ceratitis capitata distribution and abundance in Europe

“…humidity, rainfall, land use) are available, processbased models allow a fine description of the biological processes at the basis of population dynamics, both in space and time (Gutierrez and Ponti 2011;Régnière et al 2012b;Gilioli et al 2016;Maino et al 2016). Despite the intensive efforts required for the development of process-based models (Kriticos et al 2012) the biological realism at the basis of these models may allow obtaining more accurate predictions of the potential distribution and abundance (Gutierrez and Ponti 2013;Gilioli et al 2014;Pasquali et al 2015;Ponti et al 2015).…”

Host Species-Dependent Transmission of Tomato Leaf Curl New Delhi Virus-ES by Bemisia tabaci

“…The efficiency of transmission and the viral loads in adults that were emerging from pupae may explain why biological control using predators of B. tabaci eggs and immature stages can significantly reduce the short-distance spread of the virus in greenhouses [ 48 , 49 ]. However, it may be also significant in the long-distance control of ToLCNDV-ES, i.e., in the trade and transport of infected plant material, when no B. tabaci adults are spotted, these commodities may contain small-sized immature stages that could well be a source of infection [ 50 ]. On the other hand, the infectivity of emerging adults from infected dried plant materials provides evidence that plants that are removed from the crop either during the growing and harvesting stage, or after the crops have finished, should be carefully covered, in sealed boxes, containers, etc., and carefully treated or destroyed, but not exposed or transported as such as that would permit the spread of emerging viruliferous vectors and, consequently, the spread of the virus.…”

Early Intervention Strategies for Invasive Species Management: Connections Between Risk Assessment, Prevention Efforts, Eradication, and Other Rapid Responses

“…Containment is meant to prevent or slow the spread of an invading species and is usually attempted through treatments of delimited populations and imposition of quarantines and other regulations (Pasquali et al 2015). Many of the same tools for eradication are used for containment, but for containment, the goal is to limit the extent of damages, not eliminate the target pest.…”