Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Wapato, Washington » Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #407320
Research Project: Integrated Approach to Manage the Pest Complex on Temperate Tree Fruits

Location: Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research

Title: Using eDNA to play whack-a mole with invasive species in green yard waste

Author
item Neven, Lisa
item Walker, William
item GOWTIN, CHELSEA - University Of British Columbia
item CARILLIO, JULI - University Of British Columbia

Submitted to: Journal of Economic Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/12/2024
Publication Date: 5/14/2024
Citation: Neven, L.G., Walker Iii, W.B., Gowtin, C., Carillio, J. 2024. Using eDNA to play whack-a mole with invasive species in green yard waste. Journal of Economic Entomology. 117(3)2024;918-927. https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toae090.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toae090

Interpretive Summary: Transport of waste from urban environments to landfills in rural agricultural areas poses a threat of accidental introduction of harmful and/or invasive species that could cause significant crop losses. A team of researchers at the USDA-ARS laboratory in Wapato, WA and The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C., Canada developed a study to determine how invasive species could move along a waste stream to a rural landfill. The team identified that the green yard waste component of the municipal waste was the most likely component to contain potentially harmful agricultural pests. They developed a list of those pests that exist in the Vancouver, B.C. area that are either not present or present in extremely low numbers which could be the most damaging to crops grown in Central Washington State. They sampled green yard waste from 3 locations in Vancouver, B.C. over a 2 year period. Samples were ground, subjected to DNA extraction, and screened using eDNA (environmental DNA) procedures. Upon sequencing the DNA, they were able to positively identify 2 species on the original list and an additional species that was not on the list, but considered potentially invasive. They demonstrated that eDNA technology could be useful in identifying harmful pests in very hard to screen materials, which could aid regulators charged with protecting agricultural production.

Technical Abstract: As large cities begin to overrun their landfill capacities, they begin to look for alternative locations to handle the waste stream. Seeing an opportunity to bring in revenue, rural communities offer to handle municipal waste in their landfills. Unfortunately, many rural communities are also places of agricultural production, which are vulnerable to attacks by invasive species. When this situation involves the movement of the waste stream across international borders, things become very complicated. We used a combination of ecological niche modeling and eDNA to determine whether green yard waste could be a pathway for invasive species to enter and establish in the landfill-receiving agricultural community. We identified several target species that could be in green yard waste coming from Vancouver, BC to Central Washington State. We sampled green yard waste from 3 sites consisting of 4 locations every 2 weeks from June-October in 2019 and 2020. DNA was extracted from the nearly 400 samples and subjected to amplification with COI barcoding primers followed by sequencing to identify insects in the samples. Sequence analyses identified two species from the target list, and another potential invasive species that was not on the original list. This eDNA technique was useful in identifying potential invasive species in green yard waste and may prove to be a useful tool in stemming the spread of invasive species.