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This research was supported by a grant funded jointly by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural affairs, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Forestry Commission, the Natural Environment Research Council and the Scottish Government, under the Tree Health and Plant Biosecurity Initiative, grant number BB/N023463/1. ; The multidisciplinary 'Phyto-threats' project was initiated in 2016 to address the increasing risks to UK forest and woodland ecosystems from trade-disseminated Phytophthora. A major component of this project was to examine the risk of Phytophthora spread through nursery and trade practices. Close to 4000 water and root samples were collected from plant nurseries located across the UK over a three-year period. Approximately half of the samples tested positive for Phytophthora DNA using a metabarcoding approach with 63 Phytophthora species identified across nurseries, including quarantine-regulated pathogens and species not previously reported in the UK. Phytophthora diversity within nurseries was linked to high-risk management practices such as use of open rather than closed water sources. Analyses of global Phytophthora risks identified biological traits and trade pathways that explained global spread and host range, and which may be of value for horizon-scanning. Phytophthoras having a higher oospore wall index and faster growth rates had wider host ranges, whereas cold-tolerant species had broader geographic and latitudinal ranges. Annual workshops revealed how stakeholder and sector 'appetite' for nursery accreditation increased over three years, although an exploratory cost-benefit analysis indicated that the predicted benefits of introducing best practice expected by nurseries outweigh their costs only when a wider range of pests and diseases (for example, Xylella) is considered. However, scenario analyses demonstrated the significant potential carbon costs to society from the introduction and spread of a new tree-infecting Phytophthora. Thus, the overall net benefit to society from nurseries adopting best practice could be substantial. ; Publisher PDF ; Peer reviewed

This work was supported by the Potato Council and The Scottish Government (D.E.L. Cooke, A.K. Lees, I. Hein, E.M. Gilroy, E. Randall, J.N. Squires, P.R.J. Birch & R.A. Bain), the Gatsby Charitable Foundation (S. Kamoun, L.M. Cano, S. Rafaelle, G.J. Etherington & R.A. Farrer), a Marie Curie IEF (contract 255104) to S. Rafaelle, the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality to V.G.A.A. Vleeshouwers and the FP6 program BioExploit Food-CT-2005-513959 supported M.A. Pel. A BBSRC/RESAS CRF grant also supported D.E.L. Cooke, E. Gilroy, P. Birch, S. Kamoun & I.Hein. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. ; Peer reviewed ; Publisher PDF