Economic impact of invasive alien species in Argentina: a first national synthesis

Virginia G Duboscq-Carra,Romina D Dimarco,Franck Courchamp,Christophe Diagne,Phillip J Haubrock,Romina D Fernandez,Martin A Nuñez,Elena Angulo,Liliana Ballesteros-Mejia

doi:10.3897/neobiota.67.63208

Abstract

Invasive alien species (IAS) affect natural ecosystems and services fundamental to human well-being, human health and economies. However, the economic costs associated with IAS have been less studied than other impacts. This information can be particularly important for developing countries such as Argentina, where monetary resources for invasion management are scarce and economic costs are more impactful. The present study provides the first analysis of the economic cost of IAS in Argentina at the national level, using the InvaCost database (expanded with new data sources in Spanish), the first global compilation of the reported economic costs of invasions. We analyzed the temporal development of invasions costs, distinguishing costs according to the method reliability (i.e. reproducibility of the estimation methodology) and describing the economic costs of invasions by invaded environment, cost type, activity sector affected and taxonomic group of IAS. The total economic cost of IAS in Argentina between 1995 and 2019 was estimated at US$ 6,908 million. All costs were incurred and 93% were highly reliable. The recorded costs were mainly related to terrestrial environments and the agricultural sector, with lack of costs in other sectors, making it difficult to discuss the actual distribution of invasion costs in Argentina. Nevertheless, the reported costs of IAS in this country are very high and yet likely much underestimated due to important data gaps and biases in the literature. Considering that Argentina has an underdeveloped economy, costs associated with biological invasions should be taken into consideration for preventing invasions, and to achieve a more effective use of available resources.

Highlights

Scientific literature provides robust and abundant evidence of negative impacts of invasive alien species (IAS) (e.g., Vilà et al 2010, 2011; Pyšek et al 2012; Castro-Díez et al 2019)
Considering that Argentina has an underdeveloped economy, costs associated with biological invasions should be taken into consideration for preventing invasions, and to achieve a more effective use of available resources
The cost of IAS reported here is very high considering the low representation of taxa with cost estimates relative to the number of invasive taxa registered in Argentina, and the few data recorded of the taxa with cost information

Summary

Introduction

Scientific literature provides robust and abundant evidence of negative impacts of invasive alien species (IAS) (e.g., Vilà et al 2010, 2011; Pyšek et al 2012; Castro-Díez et al 2019). IAS threaten native biodiversity worldwide (Vilà et al 2011; Pyšek et al 2012; IPBES 2019) and burden human health, the production of food and other important goods, as well as ecosystem services that are fundamental for human well-being (Vilà et al 2011; Simberloff et al 2013; Shackleton et al 2019). All these impacts on nature, health and production can have important economic consequences. Control costs were estimated in studies carried out at rather small spatial scales and over a considerably short period of time (Kettenring and Adams 2011), quantifying damages and control costs at national levels is key to prioritizing management actions for IAS

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Discussion

Conclusion