Detecting and Responding to Alien Plant Incursions

Ecologists, land managers and policymakers continue to search for the most effective ways to manage biological invasions. An emerging lesson is that proactive management can limit negative impacts, reduce risks and save money. This book explores how to detect and respond to alien plant incursions, summarising the most current literature, providing practical recommendations and reviewing the conditions and processes necessary to achieve prevention, eradication and containment. Chapter topics include assessing invasiveness and the impact of alien plants, how to improve surveillance efforts, how to make timely management decisions, and how legislation and strategic planning can support management. Each chapter includes text boxes written by international experts that discuss topical issues such as spatial predictive modelling, costing invasions, biosecurity, biofuels, and dealing with conflict species.

1. Introduction; Box 1.1 Incursion response in New Zealand Philip E. Hulme; 2. Prediction (pre- and post-border); Box 2.1 Plant traits associated with impact on native plant species richness Montserrat Vilà, Rudolf P. Rohr, José L. Espinar, Philip E. Hulme, Jan Pergl, Johannes J. Le Roux, Urs Schaffner and Petr Pyšek; Box 2.2 Lag phases: theory, data, and practical implications Petr Pyšek; Box 2.3 Species distribution models Jane Elith; 3. Detection and delimitation; Box 3.1 Risk mapping to underpin post-border weed management activities Rieks D. van Klinken and Justine V. Murray; Box 3.2 Estimating detectability using search experiments Cindy E. Hauser and Joslin L. Moore; 4. Evaluation of management options; Box 4.1 Is it feasible to eradicate or contain plant incursions in the Galapagos Islands? Mark R. Gardener; 5. Evaluation of management performance; Box 5.1 Allocating resources Oscar Cacho; 6. Legislation and agreements; Box 6.1 Legislation in Antarctica Dana M. Bergstrom and Justine D. Shaw; Box 6.2 Regulating the use of potential invaders for bioenergy Lauren D. Quinn; Box 6.3 Managing invasive ornamental trees Curtis C. Daehler; 7. Strategies and actions; Box 7.1 National strategies for dealing with biological invasions, South Africa as an example Brian W. van Wilgen; Box 7.2 Costing invasions in the UK Richard H. Shaw; 8. Implementation; Box 8.1 What is a Cooperative Weed Management Area? Al Tasker; Box 8.2 The European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization: co-ordinating the response to invasive plants across borders Sarah Brunel; Box 8.3 Invasive species Early Detection and Rapid Response (EDRR): a land conservation challenge for the twenty-first century Randy Westbrooks and Steven Manning; Box 8.4 Raising awareness about invasive plants in Portugal Elizabete Marchante and Hélia Marchante; 9. Conclusions and future directions.

John R. Wilson has published over 80 papers in peer-reviewed journals on a wide range of ecological and evolutionary topics, with a particular focus on invasion science. Based in South Africa, he is a member of the IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group, and works across science, management, and policy.
F. Dane Panetta has over 40 years of weeds-related research experience in the areas of ecology, risk assessment and incursion management. He has published more than 90 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has edited or co-edited three books, including one on weed risk assessment.
Cory Lindgren has expertise in policy and planning, spatial predictive modelling and early detection and rapid response, and has been working with invasive plants for over 25 years in Canada, heading up a number of groups and forums.