Who tells conservation biologists when the U.S. is invaded by a new foreign species? …Farmers! Plus residential land owners and nursery operators!
With a goal to engage in additional assertive methods for preventing invasive pest species, researchers conducted a nationwide assessment in the U.S., identifying our most successful approaches surrounding invasive species detection. The study found that independent sources (residential landowners, farm, and nursery operators) were the most effective people in detecting new pests introduced to the U.S.
The society of conservation biologists hopes to use these results and further leverage independent detection sources as a way of increasing the source’s contributions to invasive species detection.
Read more about this study’s findings here:
https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/csp2.422
Source:
Epanchin‐Niell, R., Thompson, A. L., & Treakle, T. (2021). Public contributions to early detection of new invasive pests. Conservation Science and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.422
