Pest control, economic globalization and the involvement of policy makers

A new special issue of the NeoBiota journal focuses on advancing risk assessment models to address climate change, economics and uncertainty

2013-09-13

(Press-News.org) A new special issue of NeoBiota journal has been published, following the 2012 meeting of the International Pest Risk Mapping Workgroup (IPRMW). The workshop was sponsored by the OECD's Co-operative Research Program on Biological Resource Management for Sustainable Agricultural Systems, and focused on pest risks in the foodchain. The new issue addresses the interface between pest risk science and policy in an attempt to secure adequate pest control measures against potential invasions accompanying economic globalization and the intensified movement of people and goods.

With the intensification of trade, the potential for translocation of harmful pests, weeds, and pathogens capable of impacting our crops, livestock and natural resources also grows. A special IPRMW meeting was held in Tromsø, Norway from 23–26 July, 2012 to address this issue. The meeting was attended by 30 ecologists, economists, risk analysts and policy advisors from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, Hungary, France, Italy, and the United States. "The conference succeeded in stimulating new ideas about how to incorporate climate change, invasion dynamics, economics, and uncertainty into pest risk models and maps for invasive alien species, and how to communicate these improved results to biosecurity policy advisors", notes meeting convenor Dr Rob Venette, United States Forest Service.

The new issue of NeoBiota contains 12 research articles and an editorial reflecting the major outcomes and findings following the IPRMW meeting. The articles focus on issues of interactions between pest risk and climate change, policy and economics. Also featured is research about pest control and surveillance as well as the issue of pest risk and uncertainty, which is a key to the correct implementation of scientific research by policymakers.

"Since its first meeting in 2007, the IPRMW has made significant advances in pest risk modelling and mapping methods," explains Dr Darren Kriticos, CSIRO, Australia. "The meeting in Tromsø continued this tradition, with significant advances in economic model integration, a new understanding of the irreducible uncertainties in climate change forecasts, and the desirability of an adaptive management framework for dealing with these uncertainties, as well as new methods for dealing with other forms of uncertainty. Clearly, more work needs to be done in the area of risk communication and the improvement of niche modelling methods to produce timely and reliable models," he adds.

INFORMATION:

Original Source:

Kriticos DJ, Venette RC, Baker RHA, Brunel S, Koch FH, Rafoss T, van der Werf W, Worner SP (2013) Invasive alien species in the food chain: Advancing risk assessment models to address climate change, economics and uncertainty. In: Kriticos DJ, Venette RC (Eds) Advancing risk assessment models to address climate change, economics and uncertainty. NeoBiota 18: 1–7. doi: 10.3897/neobiota.18.6108

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Tiny plankton could have big impact on climate

2013-09-13

As the climate changes and oceans' acidity increases, tiny plankton seem set to succeed. An international team of marine scientists has found that the smallest plankton groups thrive under elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. This could cause an imbalance in the food web as well as decrease ocean CO2 uptake, an important regulator of global climate. The results of the study, conducted off the coast of Svalbard, Norway, in 2010, are now compiled in a special issue published in Biogeosciences, a journal of the European Geosciences Union. "If the tiny plankton blooms, it ...

Diet during pregnancy and early life affects children's behavior and intelligence

2013-09-13

Researchers from the NUTRIMENTHE project have addressed this in a five-year study involving hundreds of European families with young children. Researchers looked at the effect of, B-vitamins, folic acid, breast milk versus formula milk, iron, iodine and omega-3 fatty acids, on the cognitive, emotional and behavioural development of children from before birth to age nine. The study has found that folic acid, which is recommended in some European countries, to be taken by women during the first three months of pregnancy, can reduce the likelihood of behavioural problems ...

Unexpected interaction between ocean currents and bacteria

2013-09-13

For the first time, researchers have successfully demonstrated an interaction between ocean currents and bacteria: The unexpected interaction leads to the production of vast amounts of nitrogen gas in the Pacific Ocean. This takes place in one of the largest oxygen free water masses in the world - and these zones are expanding. This can ultimately weaken the ocean's ability to absorb CO2. Three places in the world harbor extensive oxygen free water masses, called Oxygen Minimum Zones. In these zones, microbes produce atmospheric nitrogen gas - the gas that accounts for ...

Potential new drug target for cystic fibrosis

2013-09-13

Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg and Regensburg University, both in Germany, and the University of Lisboa, in Portugal, have discovered a promising potential drug target for cystic fibrosis. Their work, published online today in Cell, also uncovers a large set of genes not previously linked to the disease, demonstrating how a new screening technique can help identify new drug targets. Cystic fibrosis is a hereditary disease caused by mutations in a single gene called CFTR. These mutations cause problems in various organs, most ...

SARS virus treatments could hold the key for treatment of MERS-CoV outbreak

2013-09-13

Camden, UK, September 13, 2013 – A new type of coronavirus, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, MERS-CoV, was first found a year ago in a patient who died. It took several months before it was discovered that a new virus had emerged. New cases have been reported from Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates). France, Germany, Italy, Tunisia and the United Kingdom have reported imported cases coming from the Middle East. The virus has since been identified in just over 90 patients infected in the Middle East of which approximately 50% have ...

'Terminator' polymer that regenerates itself

2013-09-13

VIDEO: Scientists report the first self-healing thermoset elastomer that requires no intervention to induce its repair. Taken from the following paper: A Rekondo et al, Mater. Horiz., 2014, http://xlink.rsc.org/?doi=10.1039/c3mh00061c... Click here for more information. Scientists in Spain have reported the first self-healing polymer that spontaneously and independently repairs itself without any intervention. The new material could be used to improve the security and lifetime ...

CO2-hungry microbes might short-circuit the marine foodweb

2013-09-13

The smallest of the small seem to be among the winners in the ocean of the future. In a five-week long experiment, an international team of scientists showed that particularly tiny plankton, so-called pico- and nanophytoplankton, grows more strongly under elevated carbon dioxide levels and produces more organic carbon. "If the tiny plankton booms, it consumes the nutrients that are normally also available to larger plankton species", explains Prof. Ulf Riebesell from GEOMAR, head of the KOSMOS mesocosm experiments. "We could clearly see that the boom at the base of the ...

NRL achieves highest open-circuit voltage for quantum dot solar cells

2013-09-13

WASHINGTON--U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) research scientists and engineers in the Electronics Science and Technology Division have demonstrated the highest recorded open-circuit voltages for quantum dot solar cells to date. Using colloidal lead sulfide (PbS) nanocrystal quantum dot (QD) substances, researchers achieved an open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 692 millivolts (mV) using the QD bandgap of a 1.4 electron volt (eV) in QD solar cell under one-sun illumination. "These results clearly demonstrate that there is a tremendous opportunity for improvement of open-circuit ...

Inheritance of lifespan is sex-dependent in fruit flies

2013-09-13

This news release is available in German. Like mother, like daughter; like father, like son. Evolutionary biologists at the universities in Bielefeld (Germany) and Uppsala (Sweden) have now shown that this proverb also applies to inheriting a long life – at least for fruit flies (Drosophila). The research team found that the descendants of these insects mostly inherit their lifespan from their own sex: male descendants will very probably live about as long as their fathers; female descendants, about as long as their mothers. The scientists have published their findings ...

Young people choose education based on parents' background

2013-09-13

Even though Danish students have equal access to education, their choice of studies is still influenced by social class. Young people from working class backgrounds are motivated by studies with a clear job profile and high income, while prestige and studies with a strong identity appeal to young people of parents with university degrees when choosing which studies to pursue. This is what researchers from the University of Copenhagen conclude in a new study. Students who have chosen to study medicine, architecture, economy and sociology often come from homes where the ...