Conservation Letters (Jul 2017)
Alien Pathogens on the Horizon: Opportunities for Predicting their Threat to Wildlife
- Helen E. Roy,
- Helen Hesketh,
- Bethan V. Purse,
- Jørgen Eilenberg,
- Alberto Santini,
- Riccardo Scalera,
- Grant D. Stentiford,
- Tim Adriaens,
- Karolina Bacela‐Spychalska,
- David Bass,
- Katie M. Beckmann,
- Paul Bessell,
- Jamie Bojko,
- Olaf Booy,
- Ana Cristina Cardoso,
- Franz Essl,
- Quentin Groom,
- Colin Harrower,
- Regina Kleespies,
- Angeliki F. Martinou,
- Monique M. vanOers,
- Edmund J. Peeler,
- Jan Pergl,
- Wolfgang Rabitsch,
- Alain Roques,
- Francis Schaffner,
- Stefan Schindler,
- Benedikt R. Schmidt,
- Karsten Schönrogge,
- Jonathan Smith,
- Wojciech Solarz,
- Alan Stewart,
- Arjan Stroo,
- Elena Tricarico,
- Katharine M.A. Turvey,
- Andrea Vannini,
- Montserrat Vilà,
- Stephen Woodward,
- Anja Amtoft Wynns,
- Alison M. Dunn
Affiliations
- Helen E. Roy
- Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane Crowmarsh Gifford Wallingford Oxfordshire OX10 8BB UK
- Helen Hesketh
- Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane Crowmarsh Gifford Wallingford Oxfordshire OX10 8BB UK
- Bethan V. Purse
- Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane Crowmarsh Gifford Wallingford Oxfordshire OX10 8BB UK
- Jørgen Eilenberg
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences University of Copenhagen Thorvaldsensvej 40 1871 Frederiksberg C Denmark
- Alberto Santini
- Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection ‐ C.N.R Via Madonna del Piano, 10 I‐50019 Sesto Fiorentino Italy
- Riccardo Scalera
- IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group Via Valentino Mazzola 38 T2 B 10 I‐00142 Roma Italy
- Grant D. Stentiford
- Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) Barrack Road Weymouth Dorset DT4 8UB UK
- Tim Adriaens
- Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) Kliniekstraat 25 B‐1070 Brussels Belgium
- Karolina Bacela‐Spychalska
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology & Hydrobiology University of Lodz Banacha 12/16 90–237 Lodz Poland
- David Bass
- Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) Barrack Road Weymouth Dorset DT4 8UB UK
- Katie M. Beckmann
- Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) Slimbridge Gloucestershire GL2 7BT UK
- Paul Bessell
- The Roslin Institute University of Edinburgh Easter Bush, Midlothian EH25 9RG Scotland UK
- Jamie Bojko
- Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) Barrack Road Weymouth Dorset DT4 8UB UK
- Olaf Booy
- Animal and Plant Health Agency Sand Hutton York YO41 1LZ UK
- Ana Cristina Cardoso
- European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre Directorate D‐ Sustainable Resources 21027 Italy
- Franz Essl
- Environment Agency Austria Department of Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Spittelauer Lände 5 1090 Vienna Austria
- Quentin Groom
- Botanic Garden Meise Domein van Bouchout B‐1860 Meise Belgium
- Colin Harrower
- Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane Crowmarsh Gifford Wallingford Oxfordshire OX10 8BB UK
- Regina Kleespies
- Julius Kühn‐Institute (JKI), Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants Institute for Biological Control Heinrichstrasse 243 Darmstadt D‐64287 Germany
- Angeliki F. Martinou
- Joint Services Health Unit BFC RAF Akrotiri BFPO 57 Cyprus
- Monique M. vanOers
- Laboratory of Virology Wageningen University Droevendaalsesteeg 1 6708 PB Wageningen The Netherlands
- Edmund J. Peeler
- Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) Barrack Road Weymouth Dorset DT4 8UB UK
- Jan Pergl
- Department of Invasion Ecology, Institute of Botany The Czech Academy of Sciences CZ‐252 43 Průhonice Czech Republic
- Wolfgang Rabitsch
- Environment Agency Austria Department of Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Spittelauer Lände 5 1090 Vienna Austria
- Alain Roques
- Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique INRA UR0633, Zoologie Forestière, 45075 Orléans France
- Francis Schaffner
- Avia‐GIS Risschotlei 33 2980 Zoersel Belgium
- Stefan Schindler
- Environment Agency Austria Department of Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Spittelauer Lände 5 1090 Vienna Austria
- Benedikt R. Schmidt
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies University of Zurich Winterthurerstrasse 190 8057 Zurich Switzerland
- Karsten Schönrogge
- Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane Crowmarsh Gifford Wallingford Oxfordshire OX10 8BB UK
- Jonathan Smith
- Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) Exotics and Risk Team Area 5A, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square London SW1P 3JR UK
- Wojciech Solarz
- Institute of Nature Conservation Polish Academy of Sciences Al. Mickiewicza 33 31–120 Kraków Poland
- Alan Stewart
- School of Life Sciences University of Sussex Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG UK
- Arjan Stroo
- Centre for Monitoring of Vectors Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority P.O. Box 9102 6700 HC Wageningen The Netherlands
- Elena Tricarico
- Università degli Studi di Firenze via Romana 17 I‐50125 Firenze Italy
- Katharine M.A. Turvey
- Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane Crowmarsh Gifford Wallingford Oxfordshire OX10 8BB UK
- Andrea Vannini
- DIBAF‐University of Tuscia Via S. Camillo de Lellis 01100 Viterbo Italy
- Montserrat Vilà
- Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD‐CSIC), Avda Américo Vespucio s/n, Isla de la Cartuja 41092 Sevilla Spain
- Stephen Woodward
- Department of Plant and Soil Science University of Aberdeen, Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences Cruickshank Building, Aberdeen AB24 3UU Scotland UK
- Anja Amtoft Wynns
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences University of Copenhagen Thorvaldsensvej 40 1871 Frederiksberg C Denmark
- Alison M. Dunn
- School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences University of Leeds Leeds LS2 9JT UK
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12297
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 10,
no. 4
pp. 477 – 484
Abstract
Abstract According to the Convention on Biological Diversity, by 2020 invasive alien species (IAS) should be identified and their impacts assessed, so that species can be prioritized for implementation of appropriate control strategies and measures put in place to manage invasion pathways. For one quarter of the IAS listed as the “100 of the world's worst” environmental impacts are linked to diseases of wildlife (undomesticated plants and animals). Moreover, IAS are a significant source of “pathogen pollution” defined as the human‐mediated introduction of a pathogen to a new host or region. Despite this, little is known about the biology of alien pathogens and their biodiversity impacts after introduction into new regions. We argue that the threats posed by alien pathogens to endangered species, ecosystems, and ecosystem services should receive greater attention through legislation, policy, and management. We identify 10 key areas for research and action, including those relevant to the processes of introduction and establishment of an alien pathogen and to prediction of the spread and associated impact of an alien pathogen on native biota and ecosystems. The development of interdisciplinary capacity, expertise, and coordination to identify and manage threats was seen as critical to address knowledge gaps.
Keywords