Public Arboreta, Genetic Trials, and Reciprocal Plantings: Sentinels for Early Detection of Non-native Insects and Pathogens and Protecting Tree Genetic Resources

Public arboreta are botanical gardens devoted to trees that often preserve species outside their native range. Along with other established ex situ resources and intentional reciprocal plantings, arboreta can function as sentinel trees—early warning systems for insect herbivores and pathogen (pests) that could become invasive or emergent under future climate conditions. These resources can also be crucial for conserving tree diversity currently threatened by global change, including invasions, drought and flooding, and deforestation due to land use change. Arboreta, genetic trials, and sentinel plantings all host diverse living tree collections, but the purpose of their establishments differs. Public gardens such as arboreta, and genetic trials are potential refugia for tree species and genetic diversity, respectively, established for education, conservation, and applied forestry research. Sentinel plantings may also be established as diverse collections of young woody plants, typically in high-risk sites, with the express purpose to monitor native and non-native pests. Most pests are introduced via the live plant trade or packaging materials and, thus, ports of entry such as harbors, airports, or distribution centers are considered high-risk sites. Consequently, arboreta and urban forests in cities near ports of entry could be considered good locations for monitoring sentinel trees. The use of sentinel planting for biosecurity is on the rise as networks of reciprocal plantings have been established. At the same time, new non-native pests have been detected in arboreta near ports of entry.

This Research Topic aims to consolidate our current understanding of public arboreta, reciprocal plantings, and genetic trials as sentinel trees and critical tools for pest monitoring and conserving tree genetic resources. Towards this purpose, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Technological Innovations related to plant health monitoring: Remote sensing, AI, and molecular tools for pest/pathogen detection in plant collections and assessment of the risk posed by sentinel trees
• Policy Frameworks: Role of sentinel plants in developing regulatory strategies to curb invasive species spread.
• Climate Resilience: Adaptive management of plant collections under changing climatic conditions
• Public Engagement: Role of volunteer programs and citizen science initiatives in pest monitoring using sentinel plants.
• Cross-Institutional Networks: Case studies of knowledge exchange initiatives and data-sharing platforms for collaborative biosecurity.

We invite researchers to contribute Original Research, Brief Research Reports, Mini Reviews, Reviews, Opinion or Perspective, Community Case Study, Data Report, or Methods articles.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: Sentinel gardens, pathogen-plant dynamics, global forestry

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.