Weed biocontrol scoping study in the Cook Islands

Abstract

Invasive plants seriously threaten native habitats throughout the Pacific region, including the Cook Islands, where numerous invasive weed species of agricultural concern are also present. Invasive species are a growing problem in the Pacific as global trade, travel and tourism bring increasing numbers of invasive species incursions, and troublesome species that are already present begin to naturalise and move out of lag phases. The number of weed (or potential weed) species present in the Cook Islands is already very large: according to the Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, some 333 naturalised flowering plants, gymnosperms and fern species already outnumber those species that are native to the Cook Islands (287 species).