The UK risk assessment scheme for all non-native species

1. A pest risk assessment scheme, adapted from the EPPO (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation) scheme, was developed to assess the risks posed to UK species, habitats and ecosystems by non-native taxa. 2. The scheme provides a structured framework for evaluating the potential for non-native organisms, whether intentional or unintentional introductions, to enter, establish, spread and cause significant impacts in all or part of the UK. Specialist modules permit the relative importance of entry pathways, the vulnerability of receptors and the consequences of policies to be assessed and appropriate risk management options to be selected. Spreadsheets for summarising the level of risk and uncertainty, invasive attributes and economic impact were created. In addition, new methods for quantifying economic impact and summarising risk and uncertainty were explored. 3. Although designed for the UK, the scheme can readily be applied elsewhere

Developing a predictive modelling capacity for a climate change-vulnerable blanket bog habitat: Assessing 1961-1990 baseline relationships

Aim: Understanding the spatial distribution of high priority habitats and developing predictive models using climate and environmental variables to replicate these distributions are desirable conservation goals. The aim of this study was to model and elucidate the contributions of climate and topography to the distribution of a priority blanket bog habitat in Ireland, and to examine how this might inform the development of a climate change predictive capacity for peat-lands in Ireland. Methods: Ten climatic and two topographic variables were recorded for grid cells with a spatial resolution of 1010 km, covering 87% of the mainland land surface of Ireland. Presence-absence data were matched to these variables and generalised linear models (GLMs) fitted to identify the main climatic and terrain predictor variables for occurrence of the habitat. Candidate predictor variables were screened for collinearity, and the accuracy of the final fitted GLM was evaluated using fourfold cross-validation based on the area under the curve (AUC) derived from a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) plot. The GLM predicted habitat occurrence probability maps were mapped against the actual distributions using GIS techniques. Results: Despite the apparent parsimony of the initial GLM using only climatic variables, further testing indicated collinearity among temperature and precipitation variables for example. Subsequent elimination of the collinear variables and inclusion of elevation data produced an excellent performance based on the AUC scores of the final GLM. Mean annual temperature and total mean annual precipitation in combination with elevation range were the most powerful explanatory variable group among those explored for the presence of blanket bog habitat. Main conclusions: The results confirm that this habitat distribution in general can be modelled well using the non-collinear climatic and terrain variables tested at the grid resolution used. Mapping the GLM-predicted distribution to the observed distribution produced useful results in replicating the projected occurrence of the habitat distribution over an extensive area. The methods developed will usefully inform future climate change predictive modelling for Irelan

Pest Risk Assessment on Daktulosphaira vitifoliae for the EU Territory, a New Task for the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel on Plant Health (PLH Panel) has been asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the risks posed by Daktulosphaira vitifoliae for the European Union (EU) and to identify and evaluate risk management options for this pest. In particular, the PLH Panel was asked to provide an opinion on the effectiveness of the current EU requirements against this organism. The PLH Panel created a working group to respond to this request by the end of May 2014. The activity will be conducted in accordance with methodologies developed by the PLH Panel and follow International Plant Protection Convention standards. Since this mandate is the first received by the PLH Panel on an important pest of Vitis sp., the first step will be to identify information gaps and additional expertise which the group might need. A major task of the working group will be to try to determine whether there are aggressive strains of D. vitifoliae outside or inside the EU territory which might pose a risk to EU grapevines

Pest Risk Assessment on Daktulosphaira vitifoliae for the EU Territory, a New Task for the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel on Plant Health (PLH Panel) has been asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the risks posed by Daktulosphaira vitifoliae for the European Union (EU) and to identify and evaluate risk management options for this pest. In particular, the PLH Panel was asked to provide an opinion on the effectiveness of the current EU requirements against this organism. The PLH Panel created a working group to respond to this request by the end of May 2014. The activity will be conducted in accordance with methodologies developed by the PLH Panel and follow International Plant Protection Convention standards. Since this mandate is the first received by the PLH Panel on an important pest of Vitis sp., the first step will be to identify information gaps and additional expertise which the group might need. A major task of the working group will be to try to determine whether there are aggressive strains of D. vitifoliae outside or inside the EU territory which might pose a risk to EU grapevines

Cytotaxonomic revision of the Simulium sanctipauli subcomplex (Diptera: Simuliidae) in Guinea and the adjacent countries including descriptions of two new species

The Simulium sanctipauli Vajime & Dunbar subcomplex of the West African S. damnosum Theobald complex is cytotaxonomically revised for the western part of the Onchocerciasis Control Programme area. The subcomplex is defined and a chromosomal key provided for the identification of the sibling species and forms recognized. Two sibling species are newly described, S. leonense Boakye, Post & Mosha (Sierra Leone) and S. konkourense Boakye, Post, Mosha & Quillévéré (Guinea and Sierra Leone). Detailed chromosomal data are provided as warranty for the conclusions about the specific or infraspecific status of the taxa recognized