Abstract
Aim
To collect and identify the issues that may affect the future global and local management of biological invasions in the next 20 to 50 years and provide guidance for the prioritisation of actions and policies responding to the management challenges of the future.
Location
Global
Methods
We used an open online survey to poll specialists and stakeholders from around the world as to their opinion on the three most important future issues both globally and at their respective local working level.
Results
The 240 respondents identified 629 global issues that we categorised into topics. We summarised the highest rated topics into five broad thematic areas: (1) environmental change, particularly climate change, (2) the spread of species through trade, (3) public awareness, (4) the development of new technologies to enhance management, and (5) the need to strengthen policies. The respondents also identified 596 issues at their respective local working levels. Management, early detection, prevention and funding-related issues all ranked higher than at the global level. Our global audience of practitioners, policy makers and researchers also elicited topics not identified in horizon scanning exercises led by scientists including potential human health impacts, the need for better risk assessments and legislation, the role of human migration and water management.
Main conclusions
The topic areas identified in this horizon scan provide guidance where future policy priorities for invasive alien species should be set. First, to reduce the magnitude and speed of environmental change and its impacts on biological invasions; second, to restrict the movement of potentially invasive alien species via trade; third, to raise awareness with the general public and empower them to act; and finally, to invest in innovative technologies that can detect and mitigate adverse impacts of introduced species.
To collect and identify the issues that may affect the future global and local management of biological invasions in the next 20 to 50 years and provide guidance for the prioritisation of actions and policies responding to the management challenges of the future.
Location
Global
Methods
We used an open online survey to poll specialists and stakeholders from around the world as to their opinion on the three most important future issues both globally and at their respective local working level.
Results
The 240 respondents identified 629 global issues that we categorised into topics. We summarised the highest rated topics into five broad thematic areas: (1) environmental change, particularly climate change, (2) the spread of species through trade, (3) public awareness, (4) the development of new technologies to enhance management, and (5) the need to strengthen policies. The respondents also identified 596 issues at their respective local working levels. Management, early detection, prevention and funding-related issues all ranked higher than at the global level. Our global audience of practitioners, policy makers and researchers also elicited topics not identified in horizon scanning exercises led by scientists including potential human health impacts, the need for better risk assessments and legislation, the role of human migration and water management.
Main conclusions
The topic areas identified in this horizon scan provide guidance where future policy priorities for invasive alien species should be set. First, to reduce the magnitude and speed of environmental change and its impacts on biological invasions; second, to restrict the movement of potentially invasive alien species via trade; third, to raise awareness with the general public and empower them to act; and finally, to invest in innovative technologies that can detect and mitigate adverse impacts of introduced species.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1149-1157 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Diversity and Distributions |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| Early online date | 17 Apr 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We are very grateful to all participants in our survey, the people that helped with the distribution of the survey link, and to Dr Nikolaï Shalovenkov for the Russian translation and dissemination of the survey. Quentin Groom would like to acknowledge funding from the Belgian Science Policy Office under the Tracking Alien Invasive Species (TrIAS) project (BR/165/A1/TrIAS).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Keywords
- biological invasions
- future direction
- global survey
- horizon scanning
- invasive alien species
- management
- prioritization
Datasets
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Alien Futures Horizon Scanning dataset
Dehnen-Schmutz, K. (Creator), Boivin, T. (Creator), Essl, F. (Creator), Groom, Q. J. (Creator), Harrison, L. J. (Creator), Touza, J. M. (Creator) & Bayliss, H. (Creator), Zenodo, 12 Mar 2018
Dataset