Biosecurity Network Interventions

The spread of pests, weeds and pathogens into Aotearoa is a major cause of the decline of its biological heritage. This includes profitability of agriculture, access to export markets and the population viability of native and taonga (treasured) species.

 

The inventory of research outputs and resources can be found here:

Biosecurity Network Interventions

This research is Completed

Overview Te Tirohanga Whānui

To develop and implement modelling tools for nursery trade, livestock movement and recreational travel networks:

  • Map generic patterns of likely introduction and spread through New Zealand.
  • Identify critical points in networks for surveillance.
  • Increase traceability so any outbreak can be traced back to the supplier or importer.

Research Area Summary Te Whakarāpopototanga Kaupapa

Led by Professor Phil Hulme of Lincoln University, this project focuses on the roles that four human-assisted networks, both individually and together, may play in the spread of pests, weeds, and pathogens:

  • The plant nursery network: the movement of live plants through professional nurseries is known to be an effective means to disseminate plant pathogens, invertebrate pests, and weeds.
  • The livestock transport network: livestock movements are known to play a critical role in the spread of animal diseases (e.g. FMD), ticks, and parasites.
  • The freshwater recreational user network: New Zealand lakes are widely recognised as hubs for potential invasion via recreational users moving weeds and invertebrate pests.
  • The natural area visitor network: the increasing penetration of visitors into natural areas provides new routes for the entry of pests, weeds, and pathogens into areas of high biodiversity value, and have been responsible for introducing and spreading pathogens (e.g. Phytophthora, myrtle rust) and weeds.

Highlights Ngā Mahi Whakahirahira

  • Delivering network tools to help MPI better manage the spread of zoonotic pathogens in poultry farms through controls on feed and animal movements.
  • National survey of lake users has helped improve MPI’s Check, Clean, dry advocate programme by highlighting strong connectedness of lakes and variable compliance among some users.
  • Work with Tahuri Whenua Network has raised the issue of risks arising from moving plant produce among different iwi and Māori grower groups

Challenge Parties

The team brings together high-profile university academics (including two FRSNZ) with senior CRI colleagues to integrate fundamental and applied aspects of applying network models in biosecurity across a range of threats.

Links have been made with the Bio-Protection Research Centre as well as Complexity (Te Pūnaha Matatini) CoREs and the Plant Biosecurity CRC.

Looking for more information?

If you’re looking for any outputs (papers, data etc) from this project that you don’t see on this page please visit our data repository.

Team Members Ngā kaimahi

  • Phil Hulme; Lincoln University

Resource outputs from this programme

Video

Crazy & Ambitious 2 – 2019

A playlist of presentations given at New Zealand’s Biological Heritage Science Challenge conference, Crazy & Ambitious 2. 20 – 21 May 2019, Te Papa Wellington.
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Video

Crazy & Ambitious – 2017

A playlist of presentations given at New Zealand’s Biological Heritage Science Challenge inaugural conference, Crazy & Ambitious. 8-10 May 2017, Te Papa Wellington
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Publication

Assessing the role of plant trade networks in the vulnerability of forest nurseries to plant pathogens

Pathogen damage is responsible for a considerable reduction in profit to the New Zealand forest industry. An assessment of pathogen prevalence, propagation and production methods,…
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Publication

Estimating the level of disease risk and biosecurity on commercial poultry farms in New Zealand

Aims: To collect baseline data on the contact risk pathways and biosecurity practices of commercial poultry farms in New Zealand, investigate the relationship between the…
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Publication

Modeling Dynamic Human Behavioral Changes in Animal Disease Models: Challenges and Opportunities for Addressing Bias

Over the past several decades, infectious disease modeling has become an essential tool for creating counterfactual scenarios that allow the effectiveness of different disease control…
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Understanding and Managing Social-Ecological Tipping Points in Primary Industries

Global environmental change and humanity’s growing demands for resources have generated concerns regarding how much pressure Earth systems can absorb without drastic, potentially irreversible consequences.…
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Protected land: Threat of invasive species

A letter written and published in response to the report “One -third of global protected land is under intense human pressure”, discussing that the index…
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Global rise in emerging alien species results from increased accessibility of new source pools

Our ability to predict the identity of future invasive alien species is largely based upon knowledge of prior invasion history. Emerging alien species-those never encountered…
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The changing role of ornamental horticulture in alien plant invasions

The number of alien plants escaping from cultivation into native ecosystems is increasing steadily. We provide an overview of the historical, contemporary and potential future…
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Strong fitness differences impede coexistence between an alien water fern (Azolla pinnata R. Br.) and its native congener (Azolla rubra R. Br.) in New Zealand

Despite considerable evidence that alien plants impact the fecundity, productivity and abundance of native plant species, support for alien plant species causing the widespread decline…
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Import volumes and biosecurity interventions shape the arrival rate of fungal pathogens

Global trade and the movement of people accelerate biological invasions by spreading species worldwide. Biosecurity measures seek to allow trade and passenger movements while preventing…
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Incursion response in New Zealand

Ecologists, land managers and policymakers continue to search for the most effective ways to manage biological invasions. An emerging lesson is that proactive management can…
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Publication

Alien and native plant richness and abundance respond to different environmental drivers across multiple gravel floodplain ecosystems

Alien and native richness and cover were shaped by different variables, so managing the ecosystem (e.g. flow regime) to mitigate aliens would not necessarily promote…
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Publication

Evaluating the efficacy of regionalisation in limiting high-risk livestock trade movements

Using bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in New Zealand as a case example, we develop a novel network simulation model to predict how much the frequency of…
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Publication

Assessing patterns in introduction pathways of alien species by linking major invasion data bases

We analyse the data for major patterns in the introduction pathways, highlighting that the specific research question and context determines whether the combined or an…
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Publication

Troubling travellers: are ecologically harmful alien species associated with particular introduction pathways?

Prioritization of introduction pathways is seen as an important component of the management of biological invasions. We address whether established alien plants, mammals, freshwater fish…
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