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Tree Resistance Advocacy Group

College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

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News

  • March 15, 2021: USDA seeks public input on climate approach (https://www.morningagclips.com/usda-seeks-public-input-on-climate-approach/). We encourage everyone in the U.S. to provide commentary on how tree resistance development and deployment is essential in fighting climate-driven forest invasions by endemic and alien pathogens and insect pests. The following statement was submitted by Enrico Bonello on March 17, 2021:
    • Forests are predicted to become more and more susceptible to invasions by lethal pathogens and insect pests in the future due to climate change. This will contribute to widespread mortality that will exacerbate the release of carbon in the atmosphere. In other words, these processes will become significant climate change forcers. As far as forest health management is concerned, I and colleagues have advanced the idea that development and deployment of tree resistance is key to managing forests in the future in the face of lethal invasions (https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2018.00124) and that only a centralized approach similar to the CDCs can really address this problem (https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2020.00002). I strongly encourage the Secretary of Agriculture to consider these suggestions.


  • In March 2021 Rep. Peter Welch of Vermont has reintroduced his bill to improve programs intended to prevent introduction of non-native forest pests and enhance efforts to reduce their impacts. The latter provisions include support for breeding trees resistant (or tolerant) to the pest. Please see here for more details: http://nivemnic.us/congressional-action-to-protect-trees-from-non-native...
  • In August 2020 Enrico Bonello presented the concept of Centers for Forest Pest Control and Prevention, along with a lecture on invasive alien forest pests and pathogens, in a webinar for scientists in East Africa in the context of the Summer Institute managed by the Global One Health Initiative at Ohio State (see https://globalonehealth.osu.edu/).
  • In January 2020 the long awaited article titled "Invasive Tree Pests Devastate Ecosystems—A Proposed New Response Framework" was published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, section Pests, Pathogens, and Invasions — DOI 10.3389/ffgc.2020.00002.
  • In December 2019 an article by Fred Hain and Enrico Bonello titled "Changing Our View of the Global Forest" was published in The Forestry Source, the magazine of the Society of American Foresters, advancing the idea of Centers for Forest Pest Control and Prevention as a way to cope with forest invasions.
  • On November 14 an article appeared in Science Magazine discussing Enrico Bonello's work on beech leaf disease: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/11/mysterious-disease-striking-amer...
  • On October 17, 2019 Fred Hain publishes an Op-Ed in the Raleigh News & Observer in which he mentions the concept of Centers for Forest Pest Control and Prevention: https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article236035658.html
  • First Op-Ed published on behalf of TRAG on August 10, 2019 in The Columbus Dispatch: https://www.dispatch.com/opinion/20190810/column-to-protect-worlds-fores...
  • On June 11, 2019 Enrico Bonello receives award for Outstanding Innovation from the Reduce Risk of Invasive Species Coalition.

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