Impacts and Management of Invasive Alien Species

Invasive alien species are organisms introduced beyond their native ranges that establish, spread and cause ecological, economic or social harm. Their impacts include declines in native biodiversity through competition, predation and disease transmission, alterations to ecosystem processes such as nutrient cycling and hydrology, and substantial costs to agriculture, forestry, fisheries and human health. Drivers of invasions include global trade, transport networks, land-use change and climate shifts, which facilitate new introductions and enable non-native populations to thrive. Management strategies encompass prevention through stringent biosecurity measures, early detection and rapid response protocols, and prioritisation of high-risk species, pathways and regions. Established populations may be contained or eradicated by mechanical, chemical or biological control, followed by ecosystem restoration to bolster resistance against reinvasion. Adaptive, population-focused approaches increasingly replace one-size-fits-all frameworks, integrating risk assessment, surveillance and stakeholder engagement to achieve cost-effective, scalable interventions at local to global scales.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent analyses of economic costs demonstrate that financial burdens of invasions are unevenly distributed between sender and receiver regions, with trade history and environmental similarity predicting high-cost linkages. Quantifying cost flows informs prioritisation of biosecurity efforts and highlights regions where prevention would yield the greatest returns. Global assessments of land-use intensity reveal that primary vegetation exhibits the lowest incidence of non-native species, but intensification of land use erodes this resistance, underlining the importance of conserving intact habitats to limit establishment. Long-term records of first introductions show that rates of alien species accumulation continue to rise without signs of saturation, reflecting the insufficiency of past measures and the need for more proactive, coordinated policies to stem new arrivals.

Impacts and Management of Invasive Alien Species publication trend

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

Technical terms

Invasive alien species: Organisms introduced outside their native distribution that spread and cause harm to biodiversity, economies or human well-being.

Introduction pathway: The means by which a species is transported from its native range to a new area, intentionally or unintentionally.

Establishment: The successful survival and reproduction of introduced individuals leading to self-sustaining populations.

Naturalisation: The process by which non-native species integrate into local ecosystems and form stable populations.

Biosecurity: Policy and operational measures designed to prevent, detect and respond to the introduction and spread of harmful organisms.

Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA): A method for quantifying environmental consequences of products or activities throughout their supply-chain, adapted to include impacts of alien species introductions.

References

1. Unevenly distributed biological invasion costs among origin and recipient regions. Nature Sustainability (2023).
2. The impact of land use on non-native species incidence and number in local assemblages worldwide. Nature Communications (2023).
3. No saturation in the accumulation of alien species worldwide. Nature Communications (2017).
4. Biological invasions are a population‐level rather than a species‐level phenomenon. Global Change Biology (2024).
5. What Is the Impact of Accidentally Transporting Terrestrial Alien Species? A New Life Cycle Impact Assessment Model. Environmental Science and Technology (2024).
6. Aliens in caves: the global dimension of biological invasions in subterranean ecosystems. Biological Reviews (2023).