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Invasion Science: A Horizon Scan of Emerging Challenges and Opportunities

Formally Refereed

Abstract

We identified emerging scientific, technological, and sociopolitical issues likely to affect how biological invasions are studied and managed over the next two decades. Issues were ranked according to their probability of emergence, pervasiveness, potential impact, and novelty. Top-ranked issues include the application of genomic modification tools to control invasions, effects of Arctic globalization on invasion risk in the Northern Hemisphere, commercial use of microbes to facilitate crop production, the emergence of invasive microbial pathogens, and the fate of intercontinental trade agreements. These diverse issues suggest an expanding interdisciplinary role for invasion science in biosecurity and ecosystem management, burgeoning applications of biotechnology in alien species detection and control, and new frontiers in the microbial ecology of invasions.

Keywords

invasive species, rapid evolution, gene drives, global change, Arctic globalization, microbial ecology

Citation

Ricciardi, Anthony; Blackburn, Tim M.; Carlton, James T.; Dick, Jaimie T.A.; Hulme, Philip E.; Iacarella, Josephine C.; Jeschke, Jonathan M.; Liebhold, Andrew M.; Lockwood, Julie L.; MacIsaac, Hugh J.; Pyšek, Petr; Richardson, David M.; Ruiz, Gregory M.; Simberloff, Daniel; Sutherland, William J.; Wardle, David A.; Aldridge, David C. 2017. Invasion Science: A Horizon Scan of Emerging Challenges and Opportunities. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 32(6): 464-474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2017.03.007.
Citations
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/55484