Could exotic strains of fungus disrupt local ecology?
This depends on the definition of exotic. It is common to find the same strain of fungus in more than one region. And where there are differences, the genetic difference may be small. For example, strains isolated from grasshoppers or locusts in Australia, Madagascar, Africa and South America are remarkably uniform. The ecological zone of migratory pests like locusts, for example, is quite vast, and their natural pathogens are as widely distributed. Overly restrictive phytosanitary and regulatory procedures at the national level could encumber transnational use of strains that are effectively from the same region. In the case of Metarhizium, even truly exotic strains are not likely to have much impact where they are introduced because of their rather inefficient way of spreading between hosts. Epizootics only occur under exceptional conditions, when host density is high and the sun is covered for much of the time.
