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Update on the environmental and economic costs associated with alien-invasive species in the United States

Morrison, Doug

Pimentel, David

Zuniga, Rodolfo

Invading alien species in the United States cause major environmental damages and losses adding up to almost $120 billion per year. There are approximately 50,000 foreign species and the number is increasing. About 42% of the species on the Threatened or Endangered species lists are at risk primarily because of alien-invasive species.

Potential economic damage from introduction of Brown Tree Snakes, Boiga Irregularis (Reptilia: Colubridae), to the Islands of Hawaii

Gebhardt, Karen

Kirkpatrick, Katy N.

Shwiff, Stephanie A.

Shwiff, Steven S.

The Brown Tree Snake (Boiga irregularis) has caused ecological and economic damage to Guam, and the snake has the potential to colonize other islands in the Paci c Ocean. This study quanti es the potential economic damage if the snake were translocated, established in the state of Hawaii, and causing damage at levels similar to those on Guam. Damages modeled included costs of medical treatments due to snakebites, snake-caused power outages, and decreased tourism resulting from effects of the snake. Damage caused by presence of the Brown Tree Snake on Guam was used as a guide to estimate potential economic damage to Hawaii from both medical- and power outagerelated damage. To predict tourism impact, a survey was administered to Hawaiian tourists that identi ed tourist responses to potential effects of the Brown Tree Snake. These results were then used in an input-output model to predict damage to the state economy. Summing these damages resulted in an estimated total potential annual damage to Hawaii of between $593 million and $2.14 billion. This economic analysis provides a range of potential damages that policy makers can use in evaluation of future prevention and control programs.

From locally managed marine areas to indigenous and community conserved oceans

Available Online

Govan, Hugh

The importance of the work carried out by local communities across the globe in coastal resources and fisheries management cannot be underestimated - and communities in the Pacific islands are no exception.

Kiribati Islands Country-based Handbook

APCC

The Republic of Korea-Paci c Islands Climate Prediction Services project (ROK-PI CLIPS) seeked to provide nationally tailored seasonal climate prediction information and build the prediction capacity of the PICTs. This project was funded by the Government of Korea through the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and was implemented by the APEC Climate Center (APCC) and the Secretariat of the Pacifc Regional Environment Program (SPREP).

Marshall Islands Country-based Handbook

APCC

The Republic of Korea-Paci c Islands Climate Prediction Services project (ROK-PI CLIPS) seeked to provide nationally tailored seasonal climate prediction information and build the prediction capacity of the PICTs. This project was funded by the Government of Korea through the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and was implemented by the APEC Climate Center (APCC) and the Secretariat of the Pacifc Regional Environment Program (SPREP).

Economics of Harmful Invasive Species: A review

Gren, Ing-Marie

Marbuah, George

McKie, Brendan

The purpose of this study is to review theoretical and empirical findings in economics with respect to the challenging question of how to manage invasive species. The review revealed a relatively large body of literature on the assessment of damage costs of invasive species; single species and groups of species at different geographical scales. However, the estimated damage costs show large variation, from less than 1 million USD to costs corresponding to 12% of gross domestic product, depending on the methods employed, geographical scale, and scope with respect to inclusion of different species. Decisions regarding optimal management strategies, when to act in the invasion chain and which policy to choose, have received much less attention in earlier years, but have been subject to increasing research during the last decade. More difficult, but also more relevant policy issues have been raised, which concern the targeting in time and space of strategies under conditions of uncertainty. In particular, the weighting of costs and benefits from early detection and mitigation against the uncertain avoidance of damage with later control, when the precision in targeting species is typically greater is identified as a key challenge. The role of improved monitoring for detecting species and their spread and damage has been emphasized, but questions remain on how to achieve this in practice. This is in contrast to the relatively large body of literature on policies for mitigating dispersal by trade, which is regarded as one of the most important vectors for the spread of invasive species. On the other hand, the literature on how to mitigate established species, by control or adaptation, is much more scant. Studies evaluating causes for success or failure of policies against invasive in practice are in principal non-existing.

Learning-by-catching: Uncertain invasive-species populations and the value of information

Burnett, Kimberly

D'Evelyn, Sean T.

Roumasset, James A.

Tarui, Nori

This paper develops a model of invasive species control when the species population size is unknown. In the face of an uncertain population size, a resource managers species-control efforts provide two potential bene ts: (1) a direct bene t of possibly reducing the population of invasive species, and (2) an indirect bene t of information acquisition (due to learning about the population size, which reduces uncertainty). We provide a methodology that takes into account both of these bene ts, and show how optimal management decisions are altered in the presence of the indirect bene t of learning. We then apply this methodology to the case of controlling the Brown Treesnake (Boiga irregularis) on the island of Saipan. We nd that the indirect bene tthe value of information to reduce uncertaintyis likely to be quite large.

Taking the sting out of the Little Fire Ant in Hawaii

Lee, Donna J.

Leung, PingSun

Motoki, Michael

Nakamoto, Stuart T.

Vanderwoude, Casper

Inthe1990's,LittleFireAnts(LFAs)founditswaytotheislandofHawaii,mostlikelytravelingwithashipmentof potted plantsfrom Florida.These plants weresubsequentlysold toconsumers along theeastcoast of theIsland, alongwithLittleFireAntcolonieslivinginthepottingmedium.LFAisnowthrivingandcontinuestospread.Fifteenyearsaftertheinitialdetectionin1999,LFAhasspreadtoover4000locationsontheislandofHawaiiandhas beenfoundinisolatedlocationsonKauai,Maui,andOahuIslands.Currenteffortsareexpectedtocontaintheinfestations on the otherislands but signi cant additional investment isneeded tohalt therapid spread of LFA on the island of Hawaii. Increased management expenditures can suppress infestations; reduce spread between sectors; and decrease long-term management costs, damages, and stings.| Animmediateexpenditureof$8millioninthenext23yearsplusfollow-upprevention,monitoring,andmitigation treatments will yield $1.210 billion in reduced control costs, $129 million in lowered economic damages, 315 million fewer human sting incidents, and 102 million less pet sting incidents over 10 years.| Over35years,thebene tsinclude$5.496billioninreducedcontrolcosts,$538millionlesseconomicdamages, 2.161 billion fewer human sting incidents, and 762 million fewer pet sting incidents.

Principles for effective communication and public engagement on climate change - A handbook for IPCC authors

Available Online

Corner, A. Shaw, C. Clarke, J.

The Working Group I Technical Support Unit of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) commissioned Climate Outreach to produce an evidence-based, practical communications handbook tailored for IPCC authors. This publication has not gone through an official IPCC approval process and is not formally endorsed by the IPCC.

Paris Climate Agreement: Beacon of Hope

Available Online

Ross J. Salawitch, Timothy P. Canty, Austin P. Hope, Walter R. Tribett, Brian F. Bennett

On 11 November 2014, a remarkable event occurred. President Barack Obama of the United States and President Xi Jinping of China announced a bilateral agreement to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that cause global warming by their respective nations. On 12 December 2015, a year and a month later, representatives of 195 countries attending the 21st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting in Paris, France, announced the Paris Climate Agreement. The goal of the Paris Climate Agreement is to limit the future emission of GHGs such that the rise in global mean surface temperature will be no more than 1.5 °C (target) or 2.0 °C (upper limit) above the pre-industrial level. The Paris Climate Agreement utilizes an approach for reducing the emissions of GHGs that is distinctly different than earlier efforts. The approach for Paris consists of a series of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), submitted by the worlds nations, reflecting either a firm commitment (unconditional INDCs) or a plan contingent on financial and/or technological support (conditional INDCs). The ObamaXi announcement was instrumental in the framing of the Paris Climate Agreement. The INDCs submitted by the USA and China were built closely upon the November 2014 bilateral announcement. China and the USA rank number one and two, respectively, in terms of national emission of GHGs. Practically speaking, unified global action to combat global warming required these two nations to get on the same page.

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