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Section Symposium

Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology

Legacy and Innovation: Collaborative Pathways in DoD Pest, Vector, and Invasive Species Research

eDNA, AI classification, and GEOME databases, to detect, monitor, and predict, invasive terrestrial arthropods in the Pacific: Building on a century of collections and associated information

Sunday, November 9, 2025
1:45 PM - 2:00 PM Pacific
Location: Oregon Convention Center, B117-119, OCC
Oral Presentation
Invasive species continue to be a growing threat to economies and the environment, especially on Pacific Islands. This project is developing tools for biosecurity monitoring of invasive alien terrestrial arthropod species (IATS) that uses next generation DNA metabarcoding of entire arthropod communities and new sources of eDNA (environmental DNA), AI classification tools, coupled with GEOME database coordination and outreach. The project focuses on invasive species associated with island DoD installations in the Pacific Region, including Hawaiian Islands, Guam and the Marianas, and Okinawa. Field work involves baseline monitoring of field sites spanning a gradient of habitat disturbance from range-edge to pristine forest as well as a direct comparison of new eDNA and DNA metabarcoding approaches with traditional sampling methods. The work develops new tools, including eDNA, AI, and data management, to build on decades, if not a century, of traditional collecting of terrestrial arthropods in the Pacific, leading to more rapid detection, better understanding of invasion pathways, and insights into species interactions, as well as new discoveries of endemic species.