Articles | Volume 25, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/we-25-189-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/we-25-189-2025
Standard article
 | 
21 Oct 2025
Standard article |  | 21 Oct 2025

Unravelling potential plant health threats for the European Union: application of horizon scanning methodology

María Ribaya, Júlia López-Mercadal, Caterina Campese, Evgenia Sarakatsani, and Sara Tramontini

Cited articles

Acuña, R., Rouard, M., Leiva, A. M., Marques, C., Olortegui, J., Ureta, C., Cabrera-Pintado, R. M., Rojas, J. C., Lopez-Alvarez, D., and Cenci, A.: First report of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense tropical race 4 causing Fusarium wilt in Cavendish bananas in Peru, Plant Dis., 106, 2268, https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-09-21-1951-PDN, 2022. 
Antoniou, A., Abergel, M., Akrivou, A., Beale, T., Day, R., Fielder, H., Larenaudie, M., MacLeod, A., Rosace, M., and Sarakatsani, E.: Horizon scanning: Tools to identify emerging threats to plant health in a changing world, EPPO Bull., 54, 73–88, https://doi.org/10.1111/epp.12988, 2024. 
Bai, T.-T., Xie, W.-B., Zhou, P.-P., Wu, Z.-L., Xiao, W.-C., Zhou, L., Sun, J., Ruan, X.-L., and Li, H.-P.: Transcriptome and expression profile analysis of highly resistant and susceptible banana roots challenged with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense tropical race 4, PLOS One, 8, e73945, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0073945, 2013. 
Balajee, S. A., Salyer, S. J., Greene-Cramer, B., Sadek, M., and Mounts, A. W.: The practice of event-based surveillance: concept and methods, Comm. Com. Inf. Sc., 6, 1–9, https://doi.org/10.1080/23779497.2020.1848444, 2021. 
Bertelsmeier, C., Bonnamour, A., Brockerhoff, E. G., Pyšek, P., Skuhrovec, J., Richardson, D. M., and Liebhold, A. M.: Global proliferation of nonnative plants is a major driver of insect invasions, BioScience, 74, 770–781, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biae088, 2024. 
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Short summary
Horizon scanning (HS) applied to invasion processes plays a crucial role in the early identification of new pests and serves as a valuable complement to monitoring efforts. Here, an analysis of the HS activity during the last 7 years is conducted. The data obtained reflect patterns about the monitoring phases, their outcomes, and the way such outputs are communicated. These results show how effective the methodology has been in detecting not-listed pests as emerging pests over the period.
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