Soil associated with sea freight (shipping containers, flat racks and used machinery) arriving at New Zealand seaports was sampled for bacteria, fungi, nematodes, macro-invertebrates and plant seeds. Pseudomonads were selectively isolated, as several significant plant pathogens fall within this bacterial group. The mean and median sample weight collected from sea freight was found to be 417.3 and 152.7 g, respectively, with most recovered soil (73%) collected from the underside of shipping containers and flat rack containers. Likewise, for used machinery, most recovered soil (75%) was found under the machinery. Flat rack containers had significantly higher soil contamination compared to shipping containers and used machinery, but generally the counts and incidence of taxa were significantly lower compared to these other freight types. Viable bacteria, fungi, nematodes, seeds and arthropods were associated with the soil, with both counts g-1 and prevalence in samples varying with taxa, freight type, and location on the freight. Various regulated biosecurity organisms were recovered from the samples, including Aphelenchoides besseyi (rice white tip nematode), and seeds from genera such as Brachiaria, Cortaderia, Digitaria, Eragrostis and Sonchus. There were also live arthropod taxa that were not recorded as being present in New Zealand. No known plant pathogenic pseudomonads were identified through sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene. Shipping containers were found to be an important introduction pathway for exotic species, and therefore require careful monitoring and management. Comparisons of the incidence and mean number of organisms associated with soil on sea freight compared to a previous study with soil on footwear, generally showed that incidence and counts of many taxa were lower on sea freight, indicating that biosecurity risk can vary with pathway. However, prioritising one soil pathway over another according to the risks they present, and differentially allocating resources is problematic because the relative risk is dynamic, dictated by factors such as new pests or diseases entering the respective pathways.

中文翻译：

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定义海运中发现的土壤带来的生物安全风险

 对到达新西兰海港的海运货物（集装箱、框架箱和二手机械）相关的土壤进行了取样，以检测细菌、真菌、线虫、大型无脊椎动物和植物种子。假单胞菌被选择性分离，因为几种重要的植物病原体属于该细菌组。从海运中收集的平均样本重量和中值样本重量分别为 417.3 克和 152.7 克，其中大部分回收的土壤（73%）是从海运集装箱和平架集装箱的底部收集的。同样，对于二手机械，大部分回收的土壤（75%）是在机械下方发现的。与海运集装箱和二手机械相比，平板集装箱的土壤污染明显更高，但与其他货运类型相比，一般类群的数量和发生率明显较低。活细菌、真菌、线虫、种子和节肢动物与土壤相关，样本中的计数和流行率随类群、货物类型和货物位置的不同而变化。从样品中回收了各种受监管的生物安全生物体，包括 Aphelenchoides besseyi（米白尖线虫）以及臂形属、Cortaderia、马唐属、画眉草属和桑葚属等属的种子。还有活的节肢动物类群，但新西兰没有记录。通过 16S 核糖体 RNA 基因测序未鉴定出已知的植物致病性假单胞菌。人们发现海运集装箱是外来物种的重要引入途径，因此需要仔细监测和管理。与之前的鞋类土壤研究相比，海运土壤相关生物的发生率和平均数量的比较普遍表明，海运中许多类群的发生率和计数较低，表明生物安全风险可能因途径而异。然而，根据一条土壤路径所呈现的风险优先于另一条土壤路径，并差异化地分配资源是有问题的，因为相对风险是动态的，由进入各自路径的新害虫或疾病等因素决定。