Enhancing action research capacity in the international model forest network : final report, December 19, 2007 to March 31, 2012

Model forests are based on a flexible approach that combines the social, cultural and economic needs of local communities with the long-term sustainability of large landscapes in which forests are an important feature. By design they are voluntary, broad-based initiatives linking forestry, research, agriculture, mining, recreation and other interests in a given landscape. The report outlines multiple international projects, global networks and partnerships and compiles and presents numerous journal articles and other project outputs. A shared framework allows and encourages substantive decision‐making on program priorities, and directions are left to the discretion of stakeholder groups

Risk maps for targeting exotic plant pest detection programs in the United States

In the United States, pest risk maps are used by the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey for spatial and temporal targeting of exotic plant pest detection programs. Methods are described to create standardized host distribution, climate and pathway risk maps for the top nationally ranked exotic pest targets. Two examples are provided to illustrate the risk mapping process: late wilt of corn (Harpophora-maydis) and the giant African land snail (Achatina fulica). Host risk maps were made from county-level crop census and USDA Forest Inventory and Analysis data, respectively. Climate risk maps were made using the North Carolina State University–USDA APHIS Plant Pest Forecasting System (NAPPFAST), which uses a web-based graphical user interface to link climatic and geographic databases with interactive templates for biological modelling. Pathway risk maps were madeusing freight flow allocation data sets to move commodities from 7 world regions to 3162 US urba areas. A new aggregation technique based on the Pareto dominance principle was used to integrate maps of host abundance, climate and pathway risks into a single decision support product. The maps are publicly available online (http://www.nappfast.org). Key recommendations to improve the risk maps and their delivery systems are discussed