Delivering Effective Management for Invasive Alien Species with a Knowledge Sharing Platform
6th December 2024
Invasive alien species disrupt ecosystems and contribute to species extinctions. While evidence-based management strategies are critical in addressing this growing threat, the challenge lies in accessing reliable data. Dr. Nigel Taylor, Research Associate at the University of Cambridge’s Conservation Science Group, highlights a promising solution in this CCI Collaborative Fund-supported project.
Alien species are organisms that humans have introduced to new areas where they wouldn’t naturally be found. Some of these become established, they spread, and start disrupting local ecosystems and wildlife: these are known as invasive alien species or IAS.
In the UK, examples of IAS include:
- Grey squirrel: this species has driven population declines and local extinction of our native red squirrels.
- Rhododendron: this plant crowds out native herbs, shrubs and young trees.
- Killer shrimp: these predators devour a wide range of small aquatic creatures, including fish eggs and larvae.
A conservative estimate places the cost of IAS in the UK at over £5.4 billion since 1976.
The importance of evidence-based IAS management
There’s a big push – locally, nationally, and internationally – to control the spread of invasive alien species and reduce the damage they cause. Efforts range from preventing arrivals of IAS through biosecurity measures to quickly finding and removing them when they first appear, and managing them long-term if they’ve already become established. As with most challenges, preventing biological invasions is the most effective (and cheapest) course of action. However, conservationists and land managers often face the reality of managing IAS after they’ve arrived.
To make IAS management more effective and efficient, decisions should ideally be informed by evidence from past management efforts. It’s important to ask: Which actions have worked in a given context? What were the most cost-effective strategies? And how should these actions be implemented? If we don’t consider the best available evidence, there’s a huge risk of wasting resources on ineffective, or even harmful, IAS management projects.
Conservationists removing yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus) at Elk Knob State Park, North Carolina, as part of managing invasive alien species (IAS) in the Southern Appalachian Bogs © U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region.
Challenges in using evidence for IAS management
Unfortunately, several challenges hinder the effective use of evidence in IAS management. For example, long-term outcomes of management actions are often not reported. Even when they are, the learnings are rarely shared widely, and when information is shared, it can be presented in a wide range of formats, making it hard to find information relevant to a specific species or site. The evidence may also be scattered across multiple sources, often locked behind paywalls or broken links, and formal scientific publications can be slow, delaying the distribution of important findings. Finally, there is likely substantial underreporting of less successful, statistically insignificant, or costly management attempts, leading to a skewed understanding of what actually works.
The brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis), introduced to Guam in the mid-20th century, has driven the extinction of most native forest bird species. The U.S. Wildlife Services combat its spread using specially designed traps and other control methods © U.S. Department of Agriculture
Creating a centralised knowledge sharing platform to tackle IAS challenges
To address these problems and support practitioners and policymakers, we’re developing a centralised knowledge sharing platform. This platform will capture IAS management projects and their outcomes in one accessible place. Users will be able to register their completed or ongoing projects on an easy-to-use web portal, and later return to update the outcomes.
We’re keen that the user will get something in return; therefore the platform will also generate a report based on user inputs, making it easier for them to share and reference their work. The portal has a specially co-designed data collection framework, making sure we capture all the important information and can compare different projects easily. Users will also be able to visualise and explore the data to find projects that address the IAS they are interested in. The platform will also be a useful record of what IAS management projects are being carried out, even when the effectiveness cannot be formally monitored.
Overview of the global IAS knowledge-sharing platform under development. A centralised database will store IAS management project data and outcomes, enhancing management effectiveness and efficiency, leading to positive outcomes for nature and people.
In the future, we hope to add data on IAS management projects from other sources – like journal articles and NGO reports – so that our platform becomes the one-stop-shop for IAS management information. It will also link to other existing products where appropriate.
Contribute to the development of the platform
We will be holding workshops in early 2025 to gather community input on the data collection framework, as well as the design of the data entry and visualisation portals. We are keen to include a diverse range of participants in this process, including individuals and organisations involved in the practical management of IAS, policy development, scientific research, and those representing regions from around the world. If you are interested in joining the workshops (either online or in person), please register your interest with Dr Nigel Taylor at nt461@cam.ac.uk.
Learn more about the CCI Collaborative Fund and this project.
This project benefits from collaboration among CCI partners, principally from the University of Cambridge, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and Tropical Biology Association (TBA), alongside in-kind contributions from F&F, RSPB, and Cambridge Conservation Forum (CCF). Each partner brings their own subject knowledge, technical skills, networks and experience of IAS management projects. The CCI Invasive Alien Species Working Group is also helping to facilitate collaboration.
We are extremely grateful for financial support from Fondation Ginkgo.
