Risk assessment in the face of a changing environment: Gypsy moth and climate change in Utah

Abstract

The importance of efficaciously assessing the risk for introduction and establishment of pest species is an increasingly important ecological and economic issue. Evaluation of climate is fundamental to determining the potential success of an introduced or invasive insect pest. However, evaluating climatic suitability poses substantial difficulties; climate can be measured and assessed in a bewildering array of ways. Some physiological filter, in essence a lens that focuses climate through the requirements and constraints of a potential pest introduction, is required. Difficulties in assessing climate suitability are further exacerbated by the effects of climate change.

Citation

Logan, J. A.; Regniere, J.; Gray, D. R.; Munson, A. S. 2007. Risk assessment in the face of a changing environment: Gypsy moth and climate change in Utah. Ecological Applications. 17(1): 101-117.