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InvasiBES
Understanding and managing the Impacts of INVASIve alien species on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
Invasive Alien Species (IAS) are a direct driver of biodiversity loss and have major impacts on supporting, provisioning, regulating and cultural services. Both the numbers and distributions of IAS are increasing in many parts of the world. This is fostered by international trade and travel, with multimillion costs arising from economic loss in the agriculture, forestry, energy and health sectors, and cost of controlling and eradicating invasions. Climate change introduces an additional challenge for IAS management because species’ ranges are shifting in response to warming. Researchers and managers are under growing pressure to evaluate the costs and benefits of plausible intervention scenarios to control invasions and maintain ecosystem services. However, past research has mainly focused on the ecological factors determining the success of IAS and changes in biodiversity after invasion, treating ecosystem services only marginally. To support policy and management, there is an urgent need to synthesize knowledge across habitats and scales, thereby providing a comprehensive understanding of the multi-faceted impacts of IAS.
Using data derived from surveys and experiments and models across habitats (terrestrial, freshwater and marine) and scales (continental and local), InvasiBES aims to better understand and anticipate the impacts of IAS on biodiversity and ecosystem services and to provide tools for their management.