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| Components of biodiversity
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| Ecosystem integrity & services
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| Traditional knowledge & practices
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| Access and benefit sharing
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Focal Area: Threats to biological diversity
Headline Indictor: Invasive Alien Species
Key Indicator Partners:
  
Associate Indicator Partners:
  
IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG)
Data Available: Global trend (RLI: 1988-2008, international policy: 1950-2009, national policy: 1965-2009), Global baseline (number of documented IAS: 2009)
Development Status: Ready for global use
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Invasive alien species (IAS) are plants, animals or micro-organisms outside of their natural geographic range whose introduction and or spread threatens biodiversity, food security, human health, trade, transport and or economic development. They pose the second biggest threat to biodiversity globally, and in certain ecosystems notably islands, the greatest threat to biodiversity. IAS have reached all corners of the globe and impact biodiversity in many ways. The cost of damage caused by invasive species is estimated as US$ 1.4 trillion per annum – close to 5% of global GDP.
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A pressure-state-response model was used in which four indicators were developed and expressed for the purpose of assessing progress towards the 2010 Biodiversity Target for this threat to biodiversity:
PRESSURE
1. Status of alien species invasion is expressed as the number of documented IAS per country.
STATE
2. Red List Index for impacts of invasive alien species shows the overall impact of IAS on the extinction risk of species globally. It is a measure of how fast IAS are driving the world’s biodiversity to extinction (and how effectively we are mitigating this).
RESPONSE
3. Trends in international invasive alien species policy shows the number of international agreements relevant to controlling IAS and how this has changed through time, as well as the change in the number of countries party to these agreements.
4. Trend in national invasive alien species policy shows the percentage of countries with national legislation relevant to IAS concerns and how this has changed through time as countries acknowledge the IAS problem and commit to responding to this threat.
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Three of the indicators are measured at a country scale and aggregated up to global scale. As a result they can be disaggregated to examine the status of invasion and trends in international and national policy at regional and national scales. The Red List Index is expressed globally, but may be applied nationally.
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(Source: Global indicators of biological invasion: species numbers, biodiversity impact and policy responses, McGeoch et al., Diversity and Distributions 16, Copyright © , Blackwell Publishing Ltd).
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| How to Interpret the Indicator
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PRESSURE: The greater the number of documented IAS the greater the threat to biodiversity from IAS.
STATE: The greater the decline in the Red List Index driven by IAS, the greater the impact on biodiversity from IAS.
RESPONSE: The more countries with IAS legislation, the greater the global commitment to controlling the threat to biodiversity from IAS. The larger the number of IAS-relevant international policies, and the greater the level of national commitment to these, the greater the global commitment to controlling IAS. The more international agreements a country is party to the more strongly committed the country is to controlling IAS.
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PRESSURE: ‘The number of IAS is higher on islands and in countries that are more developed and have more information available on IAS. The mean number of IAS per country is 50 for the 57 countries assessed.’
STATE: ‘Red List Indices show that the extinction risk of birds, mammals and amphibians is increasing over time. Analyses of the drivers of these shifts in species status show that for all three groups, IAS were having a net negative impact. Although some threatened species have improved in status (as a result of successful control or eradication of IAS), more have been uplisted to higher threat categories owing to increasing spread and threats from IAS.’
RESPONSE: ‘There are 10 international agreements with provisions for tackling IAS that have been ratified by a cumulative total of 1,434 signatories (82% of the maximum possible number). All countries are signatory to at least two IAS-relevant international conventions; more than 90% are signatory to at least half, and 8% of countries are signatory to all 10. 55% of countries have overarching national legislation to manage, control and/or limit the spread and impact of IAS.’
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Data for three of the indicators is collated at a national level. However national level assessments by countries would serve to validate these data. For development of an indicator regarding the implementation of management plans for invasive alien species, information is required at a national level which can then feed into a global indicator. The expression of the Red List index for IAS at a national level requires national red list assessments of threatened species and the factors which threaten them. More information about producing national RLIs can be found in the publication, IUCN Red List Index – Guidance for National and Regional Use, available from the 2010 BIP webpage for this indicator.
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Future development for the indicator will include increasing the number of countries and taxa for the invasion pressure indicator (and expression of trends therein) as well as updating the policy and Red List indicators. As more national scale information becomes available, response indicators that directly reflect on-the-ground action against IAS (management effectiveness) should be developed (e.g. control of pathways, operational management plans, extent of invasion) (McGeoch et al. 2010).
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| Global indicators of alien species invasion: threats, biodiversity impact and responses. (2010) | McGeoch, M.A., Butchart, S.H.M., Spear, D., Marais, E., Kleynhans, E.J., Symes, A., Chanson, J. and Hoffmann, M. Diversity and Distributions 16, 95-108. |
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| GISP Expert Working Group Meeting on Development of Indicators for Invasive Alien Species (GISP Expert Working Group 2008) | Summary Minutes |
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| Development of an Invasive Species Indicator for assessing progress towards the 2010 Biodiversity Target (GISP 2008) | Background document |
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| Measuring trends in invasive alien species: an achievement of fifty years of invasion politics? (GISP 2008) | Poster presentation |
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| Status of alien species invasion and trends in invasive species policy (2008) | Proof of Concept report for the Global Invasive Species Programme. Centre for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch. |
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| Red List Indices to measure the sustainability of species use and impacts of invasive alien species (2008) | Journal Article: Butchart, S.H.M. Bird Conservation International 18, S245-S262. |
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| Ad hoc meeting of invasive alien species data provider and user groups to develop the 2010 indicator (2007) | Report: Biodiversity Indicators Sub-Committee, IUCN SSC & NERC Centre for Population Biology. |
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| A global indicator for biological invasion (2006) | Journal Article: Multiple authors. Conservation Biology 20, 1635-1646. |
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| Options for a global indicator on trends in invasive alien species (2006) | Report to the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD). Mulitple authors. |
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| Using Red List Indices to measure progress towards the 2010 target and beyond (2005) | Journal Article: Mulitiple authors. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 360, 255-268. |
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