The recent detection of the invasive Polyphagous shot-hole borer (PSHB, Euwallacea fornicatus) in Perth has caused great concern among scientists, environmental managers, land managers, and the general public alike. In this public lecture, visiting academic Dr Shannon Lynch shares lessons in the management and treatment of the disease from Southern California, where she works extensively, studying the invasive shothole borers and developing statewide strategic initiatives to control and manage this emergent pest-disease complex.
About the presentation
The emergent tree pest-pathogen complex Fusarium dieback–invasive shothole borers (FD–ISHB) is an important and ongoing biological invasion in California that involves a diversity of stakeholders, encompassing avocado production and urban-wildland forest systems that confer essential economic benefits and ecosystem services. The dieback is caused by the combined effects of two ambrosia beetle species from Southeast Asia (the polyphagous and Kuroshio shothole borers; Euwallacea fornicatus and E. kuroshio), and the specific fungal pathogens each beetle carries (Fusarium euwallaceae and F. kuroshium). Over 77 tree species support reproduction of the beetles and their fungi, including avocado, 17 tree species native to California, and ornamental tree species that represent over 25% of all tree individuals planted along streets of southern California. In this lecture, Dr. Lynch will provide an overview of the biology and epidemic spread of the beetle-pathogen complex in California and how that has informed a statewide integrated pest management strategy as a response.
Presenter profile
Dr. Shannon Lynch is an Assistant Professor of Forest Pathology and Plant Disease Ecology at the University of California Davis, in the Department of Plant Pathology. She works extensively in Southern California studying the invasive shothole borers and developing a statewide strategic initiatives to control and manage this emergent pest-disease complex.
Dr. Lynch has dedicated her career to effectively responding to emergent pests and pathogens as drivers of global change in forest ecosystems. She develops new analytical approaches that merge large-scale monitoring with tools from phylogenetic ecology and climate science to create predictive epidemiological models of the spread of novel pests and pathogens over heterogeneous landscapes. She complements this work by combining culture-dependent approaches with metagenomics to examine how tree microbiomes shape host resilience to destructive pathogens. Finally, she combines analytical and community-based approaches to understand the intersecting impacts of environmental injustice, urban forest pathogens, and climate change on disadvantaged communities in cities and urban forest systems.
