The economic costs of biological invasions around the world

Abstract

A large and increasing number of ecosystems of the planet are now invaded by alien species, resulting in detrimental impacts on biodiversity, human health, and ecosystem services (IPBES 2019). Many of these impacts can be defined and quantified as economic costs; expenditures to prevent, reduce or mitigate the losses caused by invasive alien species (IAS). Reports on the global economic costs over the last 50 years estimate that IAS are responsible for a minimum of US$1.288 trillion (2017 US dollars) in damages, a number that is steadily rising over time (Diagne et al. 2021a). Understanding and estimating economic damages caused by IAS is particularly important given that new introductions of alien species and impacts are increasing globally with no sign of slowing down (Seebens et al. 2017; Essl et al. 2020). In addition, just as current and future projections of numbers and types of IAS vary across ecosystems (van Kleunen et al. 2015; Essl et al. 2020), impacts and costs of biological invasions differ widely across space and time (Angulo et al. 2021b; Diagne et al. 2021a). Improving economic cost estimates of biological invasions across regions helps scientists, managers, and stakeholders to develop and inform benefit-cost analyses and policies for dealing with invasive alien species. Previous studies have modelled and estimated the economic costs of biological invasions for specific countries (e.g., Pimentel et al. 2005; Hoffmann and Broadhurst 2016) or globally (e.g., Diagne et al. 2021a), but a standardized assessment of costs of biological invasions with detailed information for countries and regions was lacking for most regions of the world. In this special issue on the “The Economic costs of biological invasions in the world,” 63 authors address this issue by bringing together 19 papers from 13 countries and 6 supra-national regions that report on the economic cost-dimension of biological invasions (Fig. 1, Table 1). Collectively, they provide a global, innovative perspective detailing the economic costs of biological invasions while also providing regional information to help raise public awareness, and support efficient and cost-effective decision-making.