The emerald ash borer (Agrilus plantipenis), a recent insect immigrant to North America carried in with the wooden packing material of imported goods, is projected to cause over a billion dollars in damages annually over the next decade. International standards now require expensive fumigation or heat treatment of wood pallets and crates to prevent the inadvertent import of new wood boring insect pests in shipping materials.
Preventative treatment is worthwhile when the cumulative damages of widening infestations are considered, report scientists in Ecological Society of America's journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. Their cover story in the June 2014 issue, published online ahead of print, is the first pathway-level risk assessment of the net benefits of current international phytosanitary policy...Read more.
