Biosecurity Network Interventions

To develop and implement modelling tools for nursery trade, livestock movement and recreational travel networks:

• Map generic patterns of likely introduction and spread through New Zealand.
• Identify critical points in networks for surveillance.
• Increase traceability so any outbreak can be traced back to the supplier or importer.

Led by Professor Phil Hulme of Lincoln University, this project focuses on the roles that four human-assisted networks, both individually and together, may play in the spread of pests, weeds, and pathogens:

• The plant nursery network: the movement of live plants through professional nurseries is known to be an effective means to disseminate plant pathogens, invertebrate pests, and weeds.
• The livestock transport network: livestock movements are known to play a critical role in the spread of animal diseases (e.g. FMD), ticks, and parasites.
• The freshwater recreational user network: New Zealand lakes are widely recognised as hubs for potential invasion via recreational users moving weeds and invertebrate pests.
• The natural area visitor network: the increasing penetration of visitors into natural areas provides new routes for the entry of pests, weeds, and pathogens into areas of high biodiversity value, and have been responsible for introducing and spreading pathogens (e.g. Phytophthora, myrtle rust) and weeds.

• Delivering network tools to help MPI better manage the spread of zoonotic pathogens in poultry farms through controls on feed and animal movements.
• National survey of lake users has helped improve MPI’s Check, Clean, dry advocate programme by highlighting strong connectedness of lakes and variable compliance among some users.
• Work with Tahuri Whenua Network has raised the issue of risks arising from moving plant produce among different iwi and Māori grower groups

The team brings together high-profile university academics (including two FRSNZ) with senior CRI colleagues to integrate fundamental and applied aspects of applying network models in biosecurity across a range of threats.

Links have been made with the Bio-Protection Research Centre as well as Complexity (Te Pūnaha Matatini) CoREs and the Plant Biosecurity CRC.