Biography

Presentation

Sources of invasive species information for the ornamental trade
Invasive alien species (IAS) are one of the most significant drivers of environmental change worldwide, causing damage to infrastructure, amenity and human health values, as well as extinctions and severe modifications of ecological relationships. Loss of biodiversity has itself resulted in further negative effects on peoples' livelihoods, including reduced ecosystem services and changes in traditional/cultural practices and values.

There are numerous references to the importance of information exchange in the fight against IAS, but the practical steps required to achieve effective collection and dissemination of information are often poorly understood. Existing international information exchange mechanisms are, in effect, already implementing proposed priority actions and can provide immediate, low-cost support to national governments and industry, but they are often taken for granted. They need sustainable financial support to continue their role. OFI and its members need to understand and manage risk, and can play a role in the collection and dissemination of trustworthy information about potentially harmful ornamentals and associated parasites and pathogens.
This presentation will focus on the exchange of IAS information that is most relevant for prevention (including awareness raising and risk analysis),
paying particular attention to sources of information that are primarily of relevance to biodiversity and livelihood impacts of invasive species. Risk analysis plays an important role in preventing the spread of IAS across national boundaries by underpinning decision-making in compliance with international trade related obligations. The crucial question for risk analysis is how to predict which alien species would become problematic if they were introduced somewhere, and which ones would remain innocuous. Two very different questions apply:

1. is this species likely to have the "innate" capability to develop invasiveness, and
2. is it likely to become invasive in a particular receiving environment?

"[Only] one factor has consistently high correlation with invasiveness: whether or not the species is invasive elsewhere" (Wittenberg and Cock 2001). It is of critical importance that knowledge about the prior invasiveness of species anywhere in the world is widely available. We can use this knowledge to launch a full risk assessment to determine if it is likely to be invasive in a particular biogeographical context. A number of tools that provide access to globally-sourced information on prior invasiveness are briefly described in the presentation.