Recent cases of invasive alien mites and ticks in Japan: why is a regulatory framework needed?

Abstract

Japan's economy depends on the importation of natural resources, and as a result, Japan is subjected to a high risk of biological invasion. Although Japan has quarantine systems to protect ecosystems, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and human health against alien species, economic globalization has resulted in an ever-increasing risk of invasion. Mite invasion is no exception. Alien species that impact natural ecosystems are regulated in Japan by the Invasive Alien Species Act. However, the law focuses only on visibly recognizable species, so that species too small to see, such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, and mites, are beyond the scope of this law. The Plant Protection Law has limited the introduction of alien pests, including mites, that are harmful to agricultural crops. Recently, the liberalization of global trade policies have increased pressure to loosen regulations on various pests, including spider mites. Infectious diseases and their causative species are quarantined under the Rabies Prevention Law, the Domestic Animal Infectious Diseases Control Law, and the Human Infectious Diseases Control Law, but these laws do not cover wildlife diseases. The most serious problem is that wild reptiles, which can be carriers of ticks and tick-borne diseases, can be freely introduced to Japan. These loopholes in Japan's regulatory system have resulted in mite and tick invasions, which affect not only wildlife communities and human society but also endemism and biological diversity of natural mite populations.

Methods and approaches for the management of arthropod border incursions

“…The watch list acts as a 'blacklist', and only those species on the list may be denied entry [although 'emergency actions' can be invoked for other arthropods, provided the country has reason to believe it is a phytosanitary threat-see ISPMs 13 and 20 (FAO 2001(FAO , 2004] (Simberloff 2006). To put a species on a watch list, a risk assessment is conducted (Goka et al 2013;Faulkner et al 2014). However, due to the complexity and uncertainty in ecological systems, it is unclear how useful risk assessments actually are (Simberloff 2006).…”

“…The most common pathway for introduction of arthropods is as contaminants, although stowaways also occur regularly Kenis et al 2007;Goka et al 2013;Navajas and Ochoa 2013;Eschen et al 2015b). A contaminant is typically associated with a specific imported commodity, such as agricultural plants, fruit, livestock or pets; while a stowaway is associated with a transport vector, such as wood packaging, container ships, machinery or passenger baggage (Hulme et al 2008).…”

“…In most cases, only arthropods known (or suspected) of causing economic losses (e.g. to agriculture or human health) are regulated under international laws (Goka et al 2013;Saccaggi and Pieterse 2013). The discussion in this article will centre on items regulated under the IPPC (i.e.…”

Integrating ecology and genetics to address Acari invasions

“…comm.). Others have been transported quickly across the globe as hitch-hikers on other invasive or commercially sold insects, reptiles and birds (Léger et al 2012;Goka et al 2012; R Ochoa and WC Welbourn unpubl. data), on human travelers, or by taking advantage of past and present military conflicts, using the movement of the war logistical resources to extend their range to other countries and continents (Lockwood 2009;Canyon et al 2011;Pimentel 2011;Chevillon et al 2012).…”

“…The need for accurate species identification studies of Tetranychus native and exotic pests is illustrated in the study done in Australia by Seeman and Beard (2011). The relevance of the Tetranychidae as crop pests has also motivated studies on host-plant mite associations which sometimes called for the re-examination of the current quarantine regulations (Ferragut et al 2012;Goka et al 2012;Navajas et al 2012).…”