Economics of Harmful Invasive Species: A Review

Abstract

Abstract:The purpose of this study is to review theoretical and empirical findings in economics with respect to the challenging question of how to manage invasive species. The review revealed a relatively large body of literature on the assessment of damage costs of invasive species; single species and groups of species at different geographical scales. However, the estimated damage costs show large variation, from less than 1 million USD to costs corresponding to 12% of gross domestic product, depending on the methods employed, geographical scale, and scope with respect to inclusion of different species. Decisions regarding optimal management strategies, when to act in the invasion chain and which policy to choose, have received much less attention in earlier years, but have been subject to increasing research during the last decade. More difficult, but also more relevant policy issues have been raised, which concern the targeting in time and space of strategies under conditions of uncertainty. In particular, the weighting of costs and benefits from early detection and mitigation against the uncertain avoidance of damage with later control, when the precision in targeting species is typically greater is identified as a key challenge. The role of improved monitoring for detecting species and their spread and damage has been emphasized, but questions remain on how to achieve this in practice. This is in contrast to the relatively large body of literature on policies for mitigating dispersal by trade, which is regarded as one of the most important vectors for the spread of invasive species. On the other hand, the literature on how to mitigate established species, by control or adaptation, is much more scant. Studies evaluating causes for success or failure of policies against invasive in practice are in principal non-existing. OPEN ACCESSDiversity 2014, 6 501

Risk screening of non-native macroinvertebrates in the major rivers and associated basins of Belarus using the Aquatic Species Invasiveness Screening Kit

“…Fowler et al (2016) estimated that over 1.2 billion macro-invertebrates have been transferred from Maine in bloodworm baitboxes over the past 67 years. For example, the packing alga itself, the European green crab, Carcinus maenas, and the rough periwinkle, Littorina saxatilis, are each thought to have been introduced to the West Coast of the United States (US) via this vector (Cohen and Carlton 1995;Carlton and Cohen 1998;Miller et al 2004).…”

Economics of invasive species policy and management

“…However, economic models also have been developed to represent the incentives and constraints facing private decision-makers in order to evaluate how their management would change in response to regulations or incentives schemes, with the goal of designing policies that better align private management with socially preferred outcomes (Eiswerth et al 2016;Marbuah et al 2014;Holmes et al 2014;Epanchin-Niell and Hastings 2010).…”

Effect of Citizen Action on Suppression of Invasive Alien Lizard Population: A Case of the Removal of Eutropis Multifasciata on Green Island, Taiwan

“…An IAS invasion involves four stages: introduction, establishment, naturalization and spread/dispersal, and damage creation (Marbuah et al, 2014 (Burbidge, 2011). In the case of E. multifasciata, the government was persuaded to provide resources for its removal by proof that the invasion was still in its early stages, and the population was thus successfully suppressed.…”