Social and Cultural Dynamics of Non-native Invasive Species

Abstract

Invasive species and their management represent a complex issue spanning social and ecological systems. Invasive species present existing and potential threats to the nature of ecosystems and the products and services that people receive from them. Humans can both cause and address problems through their complex interactions with ecosystems. Yet, public awareness of invasive species and their impact is highly uneven, and public support for management and control of invasive species can be variable. Public perceptions often differ markedly from the perspectives of concerned scientists, and perceptions and support for management are influenced by a wide range of social and ecological values. In this chapter, we present a broad survey of social science research across a diversity of ecosystems and stakeholders in order to provide a foundation for understanding the social and cultural dimensions of invasive species and plan more effective management approaches. This chapter also addresses tribal perspectives on invasive species, including traditional ecological knowledge, unique cultural dimensions for tribes, and issues critical to engaging tribes as partners and leaders in invasive species management. Recognizing that natural resource managers often seek to change people’s perceptions and behaviors, we present and discuss some promising approaches that are being used to engage human communities in ways that empower and enlist stakeholders as partners in management.

Influence of institutional arrangements on invasive plant species management from multilevel perspectives: a case study in Vietnam’s national parks

“…In particular, overlapping responsibilities between national agencies in Vietnam have previously been associated with poorly defined or inconsistent legal mandates and objectives for management agencies farther down the hierarchy (Ho et al 2014). Consequently, overlapping mandates can create a lack of clarity in responsibilities that ultimately hinders collaboration effectiveness in controlling the introduction and spread of invasive species (Kaiser 2006;Schelhas et al 2021).…”

Tribal Perspectives on Preventing the Introduction of Zebra Mussels into Flathead Lake, Montana

“…More researchers are now calling for increased engagement with Tribal Nations to address the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services (Reo and Ogden, 2018). Of particular importance is understanding how Tribal social and cultural perspectives can inform emerging issues such as the introduction of invasive species (Schelhas et al, 2021).…”

Socio-Ecological Effects on the Patterns of Non-native Plant Distributions on Hainan Island

“…The diversity and distributions of non-native species are known to be driven by socio-economic variables, which influence the time and pathways for and number of species to be introduced to recipient locations, and by natural environmental variables, which affect how many species are able to persist in these new locations (Kull et al, 2011;Tassin and Kull, 2015;Blackburn et al, 2016;Early et al, 2016;Dyer et al, 2017;Vaz et al, 2017;Bellard et al, 2018). With respect to invasive species specifically, their diversity and distributions are often attributable to extensive worldwide trade and transportation (Sardain et al, 2019), although cultural preferences for nonnative species that happen to be invasive are also an underlying cause (Wang et al, 2011;Schelhas et al, 2021). Introduction of potentially invasive species often relies on economic and social activities, so wealthier and more populated countries or local areas may accidentally or deliberately import more invasive species (Zhai et al, 2018).…”