Integrating regulatory surveys and citizen science to map outbreaks of forest diseases: acute oak decline in England and Wales.

ABSTRACT: The number of emerging tree diseases has increased rapidly in recent times, with severe environmental and economic consequences. Systematic regulatory surveys to detect and establish the distribution of pests are crucial for successful management efforts, but resource-intensive and costly. Volunteers who identify potential invasive species can form an important early warning network in tree health; however, what these data can tell us and how they can be best used to inform and direct official survey effort is not clear. Here, we use an extensive dataset on acute oak decline (AOD) as an opportunity to ask how verified data received from the public can be used. Information on the distribution of AOD was available as (i) systematic regulatory surveys conducted throughout England and Wales, a

SUBMITTER: Brown N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5543216 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature