Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Journal of Pest Science https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-018-1027-4 REVIEW Biosurveillance of forest insects: part I—integration and application of genomic tools to the surveillance of non‑native forest insects Amanda D. Roe 1  · Alex S. Torson 2  · Guillaume Bilodeau 3  · Pierre Bilodeau 3  · Gwylim S. Blackburn 4,5  · Mingming Cui 4,6,10  · Michel Cusson 5  · Daniel Doucet 1  · Verena C. Griess 7  · Valentine Lafond 7  · Gregory Paradis 7  · Ilga Porth 4,6,10  · Julien Prunier 4  · Vivek Srivastava 7  · Emilie Tremblay 3  · Adnan Uzunovic 8  · Denys Yemshanov 1  · Richard C. Hamelin 9 Received: 16 February 2018 / Revised: 9 July 2018 / Accepted: 21 July 2018 © Crown 2018 Abstract Invasive species pose signifcant threats to forest ecosystems. Early intervention strategies are the most cost-efective means to control biological invasions, but are reliant on robust biosurveillance. State-of-the-art genomic approaches can provide an unprecedented opportunity to access detailed information on the invasion process and adaptive potential of invasive insects that pose an immediate threat to forests environments. Genomics can improve diagnostics of the invader and identify its route of invasion by determining the source population(s), assess its probability of establishment and patterns of spread, as well as provide evidence of adaptation. Applied biosurveillance eforts by plant health regulatory agencies will beneft substantially from the detailed insights that genomic data bring to our understanding of biological invasions. Keywords Biological invasion · Biosecurity · Surveillance · Genomics · High throughput sequencing Key messages • Management and regulation of forest alien invasive spe- cies requires detailed knowledge about the biology and invasion history of invasive or non-native pests. • Knowledge gaps in our understanding of biological inva- sion for many non-native pests include species identity, source, demographic history, and ftness. • We highlight genomic tools and approaches that can be incorporated into biosurveillance programs to improve our understanding of biological invasions. • Bioinformatic challenges exist when dealing with large volumes of genomic data, and approaches to identify ftness traits underlying “invasiveness” are still in their infancy. • Uptake of genomic approaches in the study of forest inva- sive and non-native pests has been limited to date, but is on the verge of transforming the feld of biosurveillance. Introduction Forests are a vital part of the global ecosystem and provide an array of economic and environmental benefts (Lugo 2015), but currently face unprecedented threats from inva- sive insects (Millar and Stephenson 2015; Trumbore et al. 2015). Forest invasive alien species (FIAS) are any species whose introduction threatens the capacity of our forest eco- systems to provide the economic, societal, and environmen- tal services vital to our global well-being (Grebner et al. 2014). The number of new introductions and interceptions of FIAS is escalating at an alarming rate and is strongly corre- lated with a country’s economic activity (DAISIE 2009). As the volume of trade is expected to increase in the foreseeable future (a result of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements and continued population growth), it is imperative that plant health regulatory agencies take advantage of technological advances to help mitigate the increased threat of invasive species and aid rapid intervention. Communicated by D. Rassati. Special Issue on Invasive Pests of Forests and Urban Trees. * Amanda D. Roe amanda.roe@canada.ca Extended author information available on the last page of the article