Drafting a risk modelling decision support scheme for pest risk analysts

Risk mapping techniques play a critical role in pest risk analysis (PRA), helping to identify areas at greatest risk, justify appropriate measures and communicate risk. However, there is no existing guide to best practice that (a) helps the risk analyst decide whether it is appropriate to expend the time and resources required to undertake the modelling required to develop a risk map, (b) demonstrates the implications of choosing different climatic modelling and mapping methods for pests with differing ecologies and for which there is varying amounts of information on their climatic responses and distribution, (c) describes how to perform each technique and interpret the results and (d) shows how maps of climatic suitability can be linked with other datasets to map endangered areas. This presentation will outline the progress made in tackling these issues by PRATIQUE, a European funded research project that is addressing the major challenges faced by pest risk analysts