Urban surveillance for Emergency Plant Pests (EPPs) - Final Report

There are two important reasons why pests including Emergency Plant Pests (EPPs) can become established in urban areas and spread to nearby horticultural or agricultural areas. First, urban dwellers usually purchase large quantities of goods and services from a variety of sources and locations, and so are potentially exposed to a wide a range of pests. Second, urban areas have a high density of exotic gardens and other resources that allow newly introduced pests to become established. Surveillance for EPPs in urban areas is therefore an important element of any system that aims to prevent the establishment of pests in rural and agricultural areas.

In this report, we investigate the benefits of a combined program of targeted and passive surveillance for an EPP. We show that a combination of targeted and passive surveillance has kept the European wasp — a major pest of urban areas and horticulture in south-eastern Australia — from establishing a viable population in the greater Perth (Western Australia) metropolitan area for the last 30 years.