Forestry-Related Pathways For The Movement Of Exotic Plant Pests Into And Within The Greater Caribbean Region

Forests of the Greater Caribbean Region (GCR) have immense ecological and economic importance. These unique tropical ecosystems are under increasing pressure from exotic pests, which may cause extensive environmental damage and cost billions of dollars in control programs, lost production, and forest restoration. Forests may act as a source of exotic species introduction when wood or non-wood forest products are exported. In the introduced range, these pests may impact both forests and agricultural production. By the same token, forests are at risk not only from pests introduced with forest products but also from pests introduced through other pathways. Propagative materials, such as seeds or trees for planting, may serve as a pathway for pests and may also become pests themselves if they become invasive in the introduced range. The objective of this paper was to outline important forestryrelated pathways of pest movement and to offer suggestions for improved safeguarding. The pathways discussed are wood products, non-wood forest products, and trees for planting. The work presented here was carried out in the framework of the CISWG Caribbean Pathway Analysis. The full report is available at: http://carribean-doc.ncsu.edu/index.htm.