How to quantify impact and risks of biological invasions

Biological invasions occur when species are introduced by humans beyond their natural dispersal ranges, establishing and spreading in a region. Indeed, many introduced species are more competitive than native species, they might escape from natural enemies, and modify the environment. Some introduced species cause ecological impacts and can even affect socioeconomic sectors such as forestry, agriculture or public health.

I will present some synthesis work on the impacts of invasive plant species. From the management and policy perspective it is important to identify which invasive species are causing, or have the potential to cause, major impacts. I will present some risk assessment protocols we have developed, and analysis to test how consistent these risk assessments are.