Background to the Review of Digital Identification Tools for Plant Biosecurity
In 2014, The Handbook of Plant Biosecurity, edited by Gordon Gordh and Simon McKirdy was published by Springer Science and Business Media. In a Preface to this original Handbook, the editors “…perceived the need for an overview of regulatory work in plant biosecurity as practiced by local and national officials. We have called our efforts a “Handbook” because we hope that the lay public, regulatory officials/administrators, scientists, and industry, and political leaders will use it as a reference work. We also hope that this handbook will also serve as a textbook for students interested in pursuing a career in plant biosecurity work”.
Included in the original Handbook was a chapter entitled Digital Identification Tools in Regulatory Science and Practice; it involved seven authors. When, in 2020, an update to the Handbook was proposed, Springer signed contracts with four editors: an update of the Digital Identification Tools (DIT) chapter was to be included, and eleven authors agreed to contribute to this chapter. When the contract for the Handbook was cancelled in early 2023, a complete draft of the new DIT chapter had already been completed. At this point, the contributing authors agreed unanimously that the chapter should be published as a free, online publication.
We are grateful to Gordon Gordh and Robert Griffin for their encouragement and comments regarding a previous version of this publication and also wish to thank the editorial committee of the International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences (IAPPS) for their involvement in publishing this review on the IAPPS website, as an online publication and a downloadable pdf.
A tribute to Professor Cheng Jiaan, an author of this review, who died in March 2022.
Professor Cheng Jiaan, President of Zhejiang Agriculture University (1997-1998), Hangzhou China, and vice President of Zhejiang University (1998-2005), has made a life-long contribution to plant protection, through his research on the ecology of rice pests and their management. His legacy will continue to have an impact in China, through his teaching, research, the many research students he influenced throughout his long career, and his involvement and support of regional and national biosecurity and food safety/security activities. He is greatly missed by his students, colleagues, and friends in China and world-wide.
