Survey responses from stakeholders managing, growing, advising or assessing UK populations of Juniperus communis

Increased imports of plants and timber through global trade networks
provide frequent opportunities for introduction of novel plant pathogens
that can cross-over from commercial to natural environments, threatening
native species and ecosystem functioning. Prevention or management of such
outbreaks relies on a diversity of cross-sectoral stakeholders acting
along the invasion pathway. Yet guidelines are often only produced for a
small number of stakeholders, missing opportunities to consider ways to
control outbreaks in other parts of the pathway. We used the infection of
common juniper with the invasive pathogen Phytophthora austrocedri as a
case study to explore the utility of decision tools for managing outbreaks
of plant pathogens in the wider environment. We invited stakeholders who
manage or monitor juniper populations or supply plants or management
advice to participate in a survey exploring their awareness of, and
ability to use, an existing decision tree produced by a coalition of
statutory agencies augmented with new distribution maps designed by the
authors. Awareness of the decision tree was low across all stakeholder
groups including those planting juniper for restoration purposes.
Stakeholders requested that decision tools contain greater detail about
environmental conditions that increase host vulnerability to the pathogen,
and clearer examples of when management practices implicated in pathogen
introduction or spread should not be adopted. The results demonstrate the
need to set clear objectives for the purpose of decision tools and to
frame and co-produce them with many different stakeholders, including
overlooked groups such as growers and advisory agents, to improve
management of pathogens in the wider environment.