Monitoring 2.0: Update on the Halyomorpha halys Invasion of Trentino

Robert Malek,Valerio Mazzoni,Livia Zapponi,Anna Eriksson,Gianfranco Anfora,Clara Tattoni,Marco Ciolli

doi:10.3390/ijgi8120564

Abstract

“BugMap” is a citizen science mobile application that provides a platform for amateur and expert scientists to report sightings of two invasive insect pests, the tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus Skuse (Diptera: Culicidae) and the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys Stål (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). The latter is a notorious pest of fruit trees, vegetables, ornamentals, and row crops, inflicting severe agricultural and ecological disturbances in invaded areas. Our approach consists of coupling traditional monitoring with citizen science to uncover H. halys invasion in Trentino. The project was initiated in 2016 and the first results were reported in 2018. Here, we revisit our initiative four years after its adoption and unravel new information related to the invader dispersal and overwintering capacity. We found that our previous model predicted the current distribution of H. halys in Trentino with an accuracy of 72.5%. A new MaxEnt model was generated by pooling all reports received so far, providing a clearer perspective on areas at risk of stink bug establishment in this north Italian region. The information herein presented is of immediate importance for enhancing monitoring strategies of this pest and for refining its integrated management tactics.

Highlights

Disentangling a species’ invasion requires extensive sampling and surveys across large spatial and temporal scales, which can be challenging and costly for a small group of scientists trying to track invasive species
Citizen science is a potentially powerful means to overcome some of these challenges, whereby it enlists the public in collecting a large amount of data across an array of habitats and locations [1]
Another major strength of citizen science is that it can aid in raising public awareness regarding local ecological issues and promote a more active scientific citizenship [2]

Summary

Introduction

Disentangling a species’ invasion requires extensive sampling and surveys across large spatial and temporal scales, which can be challenging and costly for a small group of scientists trying to track invasive species. The brown marmorated stink bug Halyomorpha halys is an invasive pest that feeds on over 300 plants including economically important fruit trees, vegetables, and row crops as well as ornamentals [9,10] This insect is native to Eastern Asia, but its occupied range has expanded outside of its areas of origin, probably due to global anthropogenic forcing [11], spreading through most of the United States, Canada, and numerous European and Eurasian countries [12]. Monitoring 2.0: coupling traditional monitoring and citizens science, has proved effective in unraveling H. halys invasion in Trentino [22] The objective of this update is to utilize the newly recorded data points to verify the accuracy of our previously calculated model on the projected distribution of the invasive bug in Trentino. We aimed to verify and highlight the far-reaching capacity of citizen science in such an initiative, spanning all Italian territories

Study Area and BugMap Campaign

Citizen Reports and Seasonal Classification

Halyomorpha Halys Maxent Species Distribution

Discussion and conclusion

Findings

SCISTARTER