A wide variety of diseases and pests attack plants. Insects, mites, nematodes, phytoplasms, bacteria, fungi, viruses and viroids may cause yield and quality losses and other damage. Organisms with a high damage potential are often more difficult to control than others. Under certain circumstances, they may be classified as quarantine pests, invasive species or regulated non-quarantine pests (RNQPs) and are subject to official monitoring and control measures.

Organisms are considered quarantine pests when they have not yet occurred or are not widespread in an area. They often have no natural enemies and can threaten individual plant species or biodiversity as a whole. When they threaten biodiversity, they are referred to as invasive species, which include invasive plants.

RNQPs are usually more or less widespread. However, as an infestation would cause high economic damage to commercial production, it is important to prevent plants in trade from them.

The Institute focuses in particular on research on quarantine bacteriology, entomology, mycology and nematology, invasive plants and quarantine pests for forestry. The scientists must be flexible and respond quickly to current problems. In order to protect plants, we contribute to the development of phytosanitary measures to prevent the introduction and spread of pests in Germany and the EU and when necessary to their eradication. This requires a wide range of information on the biology, diagnosis and effective control measures. This information is often not available or requires fundamental scientific work, when a new pest has appeared. For this reason, we collect, for example, data for risk analyses, optimise detection or treatment methods or investigate the impact of climate change on plant health.

Preventing the spread of quarantine pests is of great importance not only for Germany, but also for neighbouring European countries and globally. We are therefore committed to research cooperation in the European Union within the framework of the EUPHRESCO  network and coordinate German participation. Through this international networking, available research resources are efficiently coordinated and shared.