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The environmental tolerances and potential range of the tomato pest Tuta absoluta in Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Central Asia and Australia may have been underestimated according to new research co-authored by CABI scientists. All results from the scientists' research suggests with the greatest certainty that T. absoluta (also known as Phthorimaea absoluta or tomato leafminer) has further to spread globally, particularly in southern and East Asia, Australia and Central America.

See also: Pest Alerts - Vegetable Pests for more fact sheets

See also: Early Detection Species and Awareness Species

Australia is lucky to be free from many of the world’s most damaging plant pests. Exotic plant pests are capable of damaging our natural environment, destroying our food production and agriculture industries, and some could change our way of life. Australia’s biosecurity system helps protect us from exotic plant pests. The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment manages this system with state and territory ​governments, industry and the community. The Plant Health Committee has recently reviewed the National Priority Plant Pests that are exotic to Australia, under eradication or have limited distribution. These are the focus of government investment and action, including funding through the Priority Pest and Disease Planning and Response. While by no means the only plant pests of biosecurity concern, the National Priority Plant Pests serve to highlight the sort of threats Australia faces. View the National Priority Plant Pests (2019).

See also: WGA's 'Top 50 Invasive Species in the West' offers first regional report for more information

The Colorado Division of Wildlife is monitoring the state's waters for the introduction of an aggressive invasive species, the rusty crayfish. Rusty crayfish were found for the first time in Colorado during routine sampling operations in 2009 in the Yampa River drainage between Steamboat Springs and the town of Yampa. Because of their larger size and more aggressive nature, rusty crayfish can impact fish populations by consuming small fish and fish eggs, and negatively impact fish and spread unwanted aquatic plants by aggressively harvesting underwater plant beds. Learn more how to identify the rusty crayfish, how to stop the spread and how to report sightings.

The first section of the book includes information about how tourism-related infrastructure and activities promote biological invasions, including key pathways for non-native invasive species introductions. This section provides case studies of different organisms that are known to be introduced and/or promoted by tourism in different ecosystems or regions. The second section elaborates on known and potential impacts of invasive species on tourism and recreation, including how they may affect, positively or negatively, the economic revenue from tourism, tourist access, recreation, aesthetic values and tourists’ perceptions. The last section focuses on management and policy, covering aspects of how visitors perceive invasive species and their willingness to manage them, biosecurity measures to prevent invasion related to tourism, as well as potential policy options moving forward. The book draws on a number of examples across multiple taxa, landscapes and regions of the world.

Citation: Barros, A., Shackleton, R., Rew, L. J., Pizarro, C., Pauchard, A. (Eds.). (2022). Tourism, Recreation and Biological Invasions. CABI.

Invasive alien species (IAS) have become a major driver of biodiversity loss, second only to habitat fragmentation in recent decade. Europe is particularly affected by alien species, which are invading the continent an unprecedented pace. Their impact means that many of the region's rarest endemic species are on the brink of extinction and that our well-being and economies are affected. Establishing an early warning and rapid response framework for Europe become a key target. The present publication is the EEA contribution to achieving this goal.

Northern pike are native to Alaska, Canada, and much of the central and eastern continental United States. Genetic evidence reveals the role of human transport in the spread of invasive northern pike in the Columbia River basin.

Potatoes and oak trees don’t have a lot in common, but there is one thing, and it isn’t good – a fungal-like plant pathogen in the genus Phytophthora. One of the many invasive pathogens contained in this genus, P. infestans, was responsible for the Irish potato famine. Since the mid-1990s, though, Phytophthora has been attacking forest trees along the West Coast, with the pathogen P. ramorum, also known as "sudden oak death" (SOD). SOD was first detected in the San Francisco Bay Area; it has since spread throughout California. In 2001, SOD was discovered in southwest Oregon where it infected tanoaks trees. The discovery led to the formation of an interagency team that included researchers from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Oregon State University (OSU), to develop strategies to mitigate the impacts of SOD.