Invasive and Nuisance Pest and Pathogen Removal

An invasive or nuisance pest is synonymous with a species that causes harm to humans or the environment (USGS n.d.b). Unlike invasive species, nonnative species are organisms that do not occur naturally in an area but do not necessarily cause harm. Nonnative species are typically introduced to areas by humans (NPS 2020). This summary focuses specifically on invasive and nuisance insects and pathogens. Invasive pathogens are bacteria, fungi, or viruses that enter habitats to which they are not native and pose disease risks. Invasive pathogens can be particularly devastating if the host species has not been introduced to the particular type of pathogen (USGS n.d.a). Invasive pathogens are a substantial cause of death for tree species in particular (Haight et al. 2011). Invasive insect incursions are typically low-probability but high-consequence events that can cause ecological, economic, and aesthetic devastation (Venette and Hutchinson 2021). Many invasive insects come to the United States after hitchhiking on plant material originating in other countries (Hill et al. 2016). Nuisance species can either be native or nonnative, but always cause ecological or economic harm (Gwise 2021). Both invasive and nuisance insects and pathogens can be extremely destructive and, in most cases, human intervention of some kind is necessary.