Biosecurity Science and Invasive Species Ecology

Biosecurity science and invasive-species ecology intersect to address the processes by which non-native organisms breach geographical, ecological or regulatory barriers, establish self-sustaining populations and disrupt recipient ecosystems. Central to this field is the concept of risk management: tracing pathways of introduction, enhancing early detection and rapid response, and deploying control or containment measures in ways that balance ecological, economic and social objectives. Studies emphasise the role of propagule pressure—both deliberate introductions (for agriculture, forestry or horticulture) and accidental vectors (transport packaging, ballast water, or luggage)—in driving establishment events. Once species have escaped into novel habitats, their success hinges on intrinsic traits such as high reproductive output, broad environmental tolerance and release from natural enemies, combined with extrinsic factors including land-use change, climate warming and habitat disturbance. Invasive taxa can alter biogeochemical cycling, displace native species, transmit novel pathogens and impose significant costs on forestry, agriculture and public health. Integrative approaches now combine ecological modelling, remote sensing and molecular diagnostics to map invasion fronts, forecast range shifts under climate change and tailor adaptive management strategies. Interdisciplinary collaboration among ecologists, epidemiologists, foresters, policy-makers and local communities is essential to refine prevention frameworks, mitigate impacts and restore invaded landscapes.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent work has applied multi-season occupancy models to data from floating track stations to quantify the habitat-use, colonisation and abandonment dynamics of invasive American mink. By relating raft use to micro-habitat features (shrub and rock cover) and landscape-scale variables (river density, proximity to fur farms), this approach delineates priority areas for targeted trapping and guides resource allocation across complex riparian networks.

Niche modelling using maximum entropy algorithms has projected the potential northward expansion of nutria (Myocastor coypus) under successive climate-change scenarios. Forecasts indicate a four- to sixteen-fold increase in climatically suitable habitat by mid-century, offering a spatially explicit framework for designing eradication corridors and pre-emptive surveillance in vulnerable catchments.

A quantitative risk assessment for invasive American bullfrogs in South Korea has combined field-measured home ranges, habitat preferences and behaviour to estimate species-specific exposure of native anurans. The study identifies priority frog and toad taxa at moderate to extreme risk, thereby enabling conservation agencies to focus monitoring efforts and develop protective interventions tailored to high‐risk species and habitats.

Biosecurity Science and Invasive Species Ecology publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in biosecurity science and invasive species ecology across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Biosecurity: The ensemble of prevention, surveillance, preparedness and response measures designed to manage risks posed by invasive organisms to ecosystems, agriculture and human health.

Propagule pressure: The frequency and number of individuals of a species introduced into a new area, influencing establishment likelihood.

Occupancy model: A statistical framework for estimating species presence, colonisation and local extinction probabilities from detection–non-detection data over time.

Species distribution model: A computational method that correlates known occurrences of a species with environmental predictors to map potential current or future ranges.

Early detection and rapid response (EDRR): A biosecurity strategy that seeks to identify new invasions at low abundance and eradicate them before widespread establishment occurs.

References

1. Protecting prey by deceiving predators: A field experiment testing chemical camouflage and conditioned food aversion. Biological Conservation (2022).
2. Invasive species control with apex predators: increasing presence of wolves is associated with reduced occurrence of the alien raccoon dog. Biological Invasions (2022).
3. Predicting current and future species distribution of the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) in Shanghai, China. Landscape and Urban Planning (2022).
4. Occupancy dynamics of free ranging American mink (Neogale vison) in Greece. Scientific Reports (2024).
5. Climate change induced habitat expansion of nutria (Myocastor coypus) in South Korea. Scientific Reports (2022).
6. Risk assessment for the native anurans from an alien invasive species, American bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus), in South Korea. Scientific Reports (2022).