Economic costs of protecting islands from invasive alien species

Funding Information: This work was conducted following a workshop funded by the AXA Research Fund Chair of Invasion Biology and is part of the AlienScenario project funded by BiodivERsA‐Belmont Forum Project “Alien Scenarios” (BL: FWF project no. I 4011‐B32). The authors also acknowledge the French National Research Agency (ANR‐14‐CE02‐0021) and the BNP‐Paribas Foundation Climate Initiative for funding the InvaCost project and enabling the construction of the database, with particular thanks to C. Diagne. T.W.B. acknowledges funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program Marie Skłodowska‐Curie fellowship (grant 747120). J.F.L. thanks the Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences for travel support to attend the InvaCost workshop. Funding for E.A. came from the AXA Research Fund Chair of Invasion Biology of the University of Paris Saclay. We also thank J. Albers and 2 anonymous reviewers and for their comments that strengthened this manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Economic costs of biological invasions in Asia

Invasive species have caused severe impacts on biodiversity and human society. Although the estimation of environmental impacts caused by invasive species has increased in recent years, economic losses associated with biological invasions are only sporadically estimated in space and time. In this study, we synthesized the losses incurred by invasions in Asia, based on the most comprehensive database of economic costs of invasive species worldwide, including 560 cost records for 88 invasive species in 22 countries. We also assessed the differences in economic costs across taxonomic groups, geographical regions and impacted sectors, and further identified the major gaps of current knowledge in Asia. Reported economic costs of biological invasions were estimated between 1965 and 2017, and reached a total of US$ 432.6 billion (2017 value), with dramatic increases in 2000–2002 and in 2004. The highest costs were recorded for terrestrial ectotherms, for species estimated in South Asia, and for species estimated at the country level, and were related to more than one impacted sector. Two taxonomic groups with the highest reported costs were insects and mammals, and two countries with the highest costs were India and China. Non-English data covered all of 12 taxonomic groups, whereas English data only covered six groups, highlighting the importance of considering data from non-English sources to have a more comprehensive estimation of economic costs associated with biological invasions. However, we found that the estimation of economic costs was lacking for most Asian countries and for more than 96% of introduced species in Asia. Further, the estimation is heavily biased towards insects and mammals and is very limited concerning expenditures on invasion management. To optimize the allocation of limited resources, there is an important need to better and more widely study the economic costs of invasive alien species. In this way, improved cost reporting and more collaborations between scientists and stakeholders are needed across Asia

Non-English languages enrich scientific knowledge : The example of economic costs of biological invasions

We contend that the exclusive focus on the English language in scientific researchmight hinder effective communication between scientists and practitioners or policymakerswhose mother tongue is non-English. This barrier in scientific knowledge and data transfer likely leads to significant knowledge gaps and may create biases when providing global patterns in many fields of science. To demonstrate this, we compiled data on the global economic costs of invasive alien species reported in 15 non-English languages. We compared it with equivalent data from English documents (i.e., the InvaCost database, the most up-to-date repository of invasion costs globally). The comparison of both databases (similar to 7500 entries in total) revealed that non-English sources: (i) capture a greater amount of data than English sources alone (2500 vs. 2396 cost entries respectively); (ii) add 249 invasive species and 15 countries to those reported by English literature, and (iii) increase the global cost estimate of invasions by 16.6% (i.e., US$ 214 billion added to 1.288 trillion estimated fromthe English database). Additionally, 2712 cost entries - not directly comparable to the English database - were directly obtained frompractitioners, revealing the value of communication between scientists and practitioners. Moreover, we demonstrated how gaps caused by overlooking non-English data resulted in significant biases in the distribution of costs across space, taxonomic groups, types of cost, and impacted sectors. Specifically, costs from Europe, at the local scale, and particularly pertaining to management, were largely under-represented in the English database. Thus, combining scientific data from English and non-English sources proves fundamental and enhances data completeness. Considering non-English sources helps alleviate biases in understanding invasion costs at a global scale. Finally, it also holds strong potential for improving management performance, coordination among experts (scientists and practitioners), and collaborative actions across countries. Note: non-English versions of the abstract and figures are provided in Appendix S5 in 12 languages. (c) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Global Roadkill Data: a dataset on terrestrial vertebrate mortality caused by collision with vehicles

Roadkill is widely recognized as one of the primary negative effects of roads on many wildlife species and also has socioeconomic impacts when they result in accidents. A comprehensive dataset of roadkill locations is essential to evaluate the factors contributing to roadkill risk and to enhance our comprehension of its impact on wildlife populations and socioeconomic dimensions. We undertook a compilation of roadkill records, encompassing both published and unpublished data gathered from road surveys or opportunistic sources. GLOBAL ROADKILL DATA includes 208,570 roadkill records of terrestrial vertebrates from 54 countries across six continents, encompassing data collected between 1971 and 2024. This dataset serves to minimise the collection of redundant data and acts as a valuable resource for local and macro scale analysis regarding rates of roadkill, road- and landscape-related features associated with risk of roadkill, vulnerability of species to road traffic, and populations at risk of local extinction. The objective of this dataset is to promote scientific progress in infrastructure ecology and terrestrial vertebrate conservation while limiting the socio-economic costs

Identification of the population source of free-ranging cats threatening endemic species on Tokunoshima Island, Japan

AbstractFree-ranging cats Felis silvestris catus are harmful to endemic species, especially on islands. Effective management practices require an understanding of their habitat use and population source at the landscape level. We aimed to identify the source of the free-ranging cat population on Tokunoshima Island, Japan, which harbors a variety of endemic organisms as well as human settlements. Trapping data for the whole island were provided by local governments, and landscape factors (residential, agricultural, and woodlot areas and cattle barn density) affecting cat density were explored. An analysis of live-capture data indicated that the density (per 1 km2) of free-ranging cats was positively correlated with the densities of cattle barns and woodlot areas and negatively correlated with residential areas. An interview survey revealed that nearly half of the cattle barns feed free-ranging cats. The source habitat of free-ranging cats appears to be areas with a high density of cattle barns and a high percentage of woodlots in human-dominated landscapes. Feeding cats in cattle barns may strengthen the bottom-up process of population growth on the island. To reduce the impact of cats on endemic species on Tokunoshima Island, efforts to stop feeding cats in cattle barns are important. Reaching a consensus with stakeholders will require further studies of the ecological risks posed by free-ranging cats.</jats:p