Will growing invasive arthropod biodiversity outpace our ability for eradication?

Abstract

The Global Eradication Database documents 811 eradication attempts against invasive arthropods since 1890, in 104 countries. Eradication programs show a greater than exponential increase in the number of programs started in recent decades. In addition, there is a trend of a rapidly diversifying burden of the most severe threats. The species richness showed a threefold increase in number of species under eradication in the last 50 yr, and all taxonomic levels rose dramatically. The increase in number of eradication programs shows that current management measures for constraining the spread of invasive species are inadequate. A similar surge in the number of governments trying to prevent the establishment of new pests has occurred. Increased biodiversity of arthropod eradication targets includes new pest groups with fewer tools developed for management. We argue that a rapid increase in biodiversity of invasive and economically or environmentally damaging organisms represents a substantial and underestimated challenge for managers wanting to prevent their establishment, requiring a shift in research focus to accelerate delimitation and suppression options with less reliance on insecticides.

Options for reducing uncertainty in impact classification for alien species

“…Using insects as a case study, we apply the published protocol, EICAT, for classifying the impacts of alien species (Blackburn et al 2014, Hawkins et al 2015). Insects were selected as a model taxon for multiple reasons: (1) Alien invasive insect species pose significant risks to the environment and economy and require impact risk assessments to prioritize management (Bradshaw et al 2016, Lovett et al 2016, Suckling et al 2019); (2) they are one of the most species‐rich, abundant, functionally diverse taxonomic groups (Stork et al 2015, Noriega et al 2018), and (3) they are a group to which EICAT has not previously been applied. We use differences found between independent assessments of 100 insect species to identify, interpret, and classify causes and types of uncertainty.…”

Reducing uncertainty in impact assessments for alien species

“…Other taxa, such as the hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) are responsible for largescale changes to native habitats (Spaulding and Rieske 2010). Continued appreciation of the potential and realised impacts of alien taxa has led to numerous government control programs targeting invasive arthropods, a substantial portion of which target insects (Suckling et al 2019). Impact risk assessment for alien insects is therefore a large, challenging and important task, because of the numbers of species involved, gaps in knowledge of their life histories and distributions, and their substantial negative impacts.…”

Peri-Urban Community Attitudes towards Codling Moth Trapping and Suppression Using the Sterile Insect Technique in New Zealand

“…While nearly 100 countries have undertaken one or more insect pest eradication programmes in response to specific threats, some jurisdictions have been involved in many responses [11]. New Zealand’s geographic isolation, in combination with a relatively stringent plant quarantine and biosecurity system with active post-border surveillance for exotic pests has meant the relative absence of many potentially devastating fruit pests.…”