Groundbreaking Study Unveils Alarming Potential for Future Waves of Invasive Species
The magnitude of environmental and socioeconomic impacts due to new invasions is likely to rise substantially in the coming decades, particularly as trade and transport accelerate and shift, connecting distant countries and their unique species pools.
The research has been published in Global Ecology and Biogeography and was led by an international research team of collaborators including Queen’s University Belfast.
Invasive species are one of the greatest threats to biodiversity globally and are the main cause for the extinction of vertebrates in the last century, with an estimated cost of at least $162 billion (USD) a year.
In this study, the team found that greater numbers of non-native species tend to come from more diverse species groups. However, some groups have been excessively introduced, including mammals, birds, fishes, insects, spiders, and plants. Understudied groups – such as microorganisms – are likely vastly underestimated in non-native species inventories.
The most reported introduced non-native species tend to be those that have been associated with intentional introduction by humans for agriculture, horticulture and forestry, such as cane toads, knotweeds, and pine trees.
The study also found that most reporting of biological invasions has occurred on land rather than aquatic habitats. Greater research efforts are therefore likely to reveal substantial numbers of new non-native species and associated impacts in freshwater and ocean habitats.
Dr Ross Cuthbert, co-author on the study and researcher from the School of Biological Sciences at Queen’s University Belfast, said: “Biological invasions can cause extinctions, cost trillions of dollars in damage and control, and spread diseases. Their impacts are rising rapidly, making large-scale understandings and predictions of invasion patterns crucial to protect environments, economies, and societies.
“Management efforts are urgently needed to prevent future introductions and to control the most damaging invaders already established.”