Development of a preliminary environmental risk assessment system by using text mining for introducing alien crops

Yooinn Hong; Minhyun Lee; Hojun Rim; Yuno Do; Seong-Cheol Kim; Jeong Hwan Bang; Uhram Song

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114794

Development of a preliminary environmental risk assessment system by using text mining for introducing alien crops

J Environ Manage. 2022 Mar 2:311:114794. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114794. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yooinn Hong¹, Minhyun Lee², Hojun Rim³, Yuno Do⁴, Seong-Cheol Kim⁵, Jeong Hwan Bang⁶, Uhram Song⁷

Affiliations

¹ National Institute of Ecology, Seocheon, 33657, South Korea.
² Department of Biology, Jeju National University, Jeju, 63243, South Korea.
³ Crop Protection Division, National Institute of Agricultural Science, Rural Development Administration, Jeonju, 54874, South Korea.
⁴ Department of Biological Science, Kongju National University, Kongju, 32588, South Korea.
⁵ Research Institute of Climate Change and Agriculture, National Institute of Horticultural & Herbal Science, Jeju, 63240, South Korea.
⁶ Climate Change Assessment Division, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Wanju, 55365, South Korea.
⁷ Department of Biology, Jeju National University, Jeju, 63243, South Korea. Electronic address: uhrami@gmail.com.

PMID: 35247761
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114794

Abstract

Changes in worldwide crop trends and climate change has increased the introduction of alien crops. However, there are always potential side effect issues related to introduced crops, such as the introduced crop becoming a nuisance at the new country or bringing insect pests or microorganisms with the introduced crops. In this study, we developed a crop introduction risk assessment system using text mining method to prevent this problem. First, we designed the "Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment Index for Alien Crops" based on ecological researches to assess the risks of introduced crops to the natural environment. The questionaries evaluate the target alien crop with previous cases reporting the target crops' adverse effects on the environment, the potential of target crops' direct or indirect damage on the environment. The index has sixteen questions with allocated scores that are divided into 4 categories. The detailed rationales of the questionaries and the assessment index are discussed in main text. Second, we assessed 67 crop species that were introduced or scheduled to be introduced to South Korea with this Preliminary Assessment Index. The literature and data were collected with JabRef, search engines, and from the documents of six international institutions. Finally, based on the preliminary assessment results of selected species, we developed the protocols and a manual for the preliminary environmental risk assessment of introduced species. Final evaluation scores for risk evaluation for introducing crops are suggested (over 70 total score for 'danger' and over 50 points for 'caution required', and under 50 points for 'low expected impact'). Presented crop introduction risk assessment system is effective to identify potential problem making crop species. The protocols and a manual that we provide in this study could be applied to other countries which have similar climate and environmental conditions, or after being adequately modified to their environmental factors such as climate, neighboring countries, major crops according to eating habits, and major vegetation.

Keywords: Alien crop; Environmental impact; Introduction; Risk assessment; Text mining.