All alien species cause changes to the ecosystems to which they are introduced. Such impacts are of many types - some are dramatic and obvious and can easily be classified as desirable or undesirable. However, for the vast majority of alien species, no information on impact is available. This greatly complicates the task of objectively assigning priority to management.
Eradication of invasive alien plants requires that all populations of the plants have been found and every plant removed. This entails intensive searching, which often comes at a great expense. Maps that show where species are likely to occur are useful for guiding searches, and may reduce the costs and increase the success of eradication operations. Such maps are based on models that explore the links between plant distributions and climatic factors in order to predict where the plants might occur.
The magnitude of biological invasions is increasing world-wide. Areas affected by alien plant invasions are continuously expanding and the extent and complexity of their impacts are increasing.
Recently published C·I·B research conducted in association with the International Polar Year ‘Aliens in Antarctica’ project has measured the propagule load carried in the clothing and gear of researchers and visitors to the Antarctic region.
Biological invasions are taking place at an increasing rate, causing environmental and economic problems worldwide. It is therefore important to be able to predict and identify those species that may have damaging ecological impacts.
