New approaches for the detection of tree health pests and pathogens

Led by Dr Rick Mumford, the Food & Environment Research Agency (Fera)

The UK’s forests, woods and trees are under threat from a growing number of pests and diseases. Many of these threats are alien which have been introduced to the UK from overseas. Some of the threats may reach the UK naturally by wind-borne spores. The alternative pathway of introduction is via human activity through trade such as moving infected plants or shipping infested timber. To improve the biosecurity of the UK and to protect plants and trees, better methods are needed for detecting pests and diseases. Early detection minimises damage by preventing an outbreak occurring or stopping it from spreading further. At present, trained inspectors are relied on to find these alien pests and pathogens, mainly through visual inspections of imported plants and products. Given the volume of inspections required, this task is difficult and the efficiency of detection is low. This project aims to provide better methods for detecting tree pests and pathogens, both moving through trade and the environment. It will look at new technologies for detecting changes in infected plants using either ‘sniffer’ technology to identify chemical changes in the air triggered by disease or imaging techniques that can detect changes beyond the range of human vision. The researchers will also look at developing new traps for capturing insects and DNA-based detection approaches to look for pathogens. This will allow the identification not only of known pathogens, but also new ones. In addition, the study will investigate using a “citizen science approach” in detection, identifying what type of end-users could be involved in the hunt for threats.

This project is a partnership between Fera, the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Forest Research, the James Hutton Institute, Rutherford Appleton Laboratories and the Universities of Aberdeen, Oxford, Exeter, Greenwich, Hertfordshire, St. Andrews and Worcester