Examples of our research are:
Decision Support Dataset to Prevent Establishment of Exotic Pine-Killing Woodborers
The main goal of this project is to develop a decision support resource that can inform decision-makers about preventive measures and control mechanisms that will help reduce the introduction and establishment of exotic wood borers and tree diseases associated with them that pose a risk to the US economy and environment.
Introduced tree diseases vectored by woodborers nearly eradicated a number of American tree species and are now threatening crops. Today there is still no effective management tool for some of the pathogens spread by introduced woodborers and consequently an epidemic would likely result in unprecedented economic loss and ecological disaster. In this context, regulatory agencies need data to respond accurately to newly introduced species and, at the same time, data to inform the removal of unnecessary barriers to trade/importation of species that pose little or no risk. Regulatory treatments currently in place (e.g., WPM ISPM 15) mitigate some of the risk associated with the movement of potential pests, but provide no solutions for pests that do get introduced.
In order to develop the decision support resource, the research group is carrying out economic analysis of the value of pre-invasion assessment, assessment of the association between Asian wood borers and tree pathogens as well as law and policy analysis. The decision support resource will consist of a list of species of Asian woodborers, their association with fungal pathogens of trees, and the effect of those fungi on American timber industries. This information combined with data about the ecology of each woodborer species, particularly on their invasion potential, tree-killing potential, and host specificity will allow the research group to rank the woodborer species according to their threat level.
Based on this information it will be possible to revise the 2012 Prioritized Offshore Pest List with regards to insect species that (1) can be removed from the list, (2) added to the list, (3) de-prioritized on the list, or (4) prioritized on the list.
The use of the decision support resource along with the revised 2012 Prioritized Offshore Pest List will likely enhance the technical and institutional capacities to protect US forest and avoid potential economic losses and ecological disasters.
Integrating research, education and extension for enhancing southern pine climate change mitigation and adaptation (“PINEMAP” – pinemap.org). USDA-NIFA. 2011-2015:
Pine Integrated Network: Education, Mitigation, and Adaptation project (PINEMAP) is one of three Coordinated Agricultural Projects funded in 2011 by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The $20 million project focuses on the 20 million acres of planted pine forests managed by private landowners in the Atlantic and Gulf coastal states from Virginia to Texas, plus Arkansas and Oklahoma. These forests provide critical economic and ecological services to U.S. citizens. Southeastern forests contain 1/3 of the contiguous U.S. forest carbon and form the backbone of an industry that supplies 16% of global industrial wood, 5.5% of the jobs, and 7.5% of the industrial economic activity of the region. PINEMAP integrates research, extension, and education to enable southern pine landowners to manage forests to increase carbon sequestration; increase efficiency of nitrogen and other fertilizer inputs; and adapt forest management approaches to increase forest resilience and sustainability under variable climates. Dr. Damian Adams leads the economics and policy analysis work for the project.