Challenges of managing the emerald ash borer: What do managers want, and what can researchers tell them?

Abstract

Hundreds of scientific articles and thousands of media reports have been written on the emerald ash borer (EAB) since its discovery in 2002. This incredible mass of information has proved to be overwhelming for forest health professionals who may not have the time or training to base management decisions on the best or most recent findings. At the same time the direction of the research community has at times diverged from that of the management community. This led us to ask two questions: 1) how well is the knowledge generated by researchers being translated to managers? 2) What research questions are most pertinent to managers? We conducted two independent studies where we elicited the knowledge, experiences and opinions of EAB managers and researchers using targeted interviews and a knowledge exchange workshop. We found that managers were unhappy and concerned with the pace of research and how findings are translated, and think that researchers are not addressing questions that are important to managers. They also report that jurisdictional issues have impeded the management of EAB in Canada. We make four recommendations to improve the relationship between forest pest managers and researchers and improve the practice of urban forest entomology in Canada.