This article, published in NeoBiota, looks back over 9 years of invertebrate interceptions at Australia's borders, offering insights into the evolving challenges of managing invasive invertebrates in the context of global trade.
The analyses revealed clear spatial and temporal patterns in interception frequency, relationships between interception frequency and commodity type, shifts in the taxonomic composition of intercepted taxa before, during and after COVID-19, and transport pathways most frequently associated with invertebrate arrivals. Together, these findings offer valuable evidence to inform biosecurity practices and policy, highlighting priority pathways and time periods where risk may be elevated.
Interesting highlights include:
- The most frequently recorded species from 2016 to 2020 was Frankliniella occidentalis.
- Overall, 61.5% of all interceptions were associated with plant product commodities, 8.5% with wood product commodities, and 3.6% with animal product commodities, with 14.2% of interceptions involving either no recorded or associated commodity.
- Interception peaks occur between November and February and decline between May and July.
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