Corruption, development and governance indicators predict invasive species risk from trade

Abstract

Invasive species have an enormous global impact, with international trade being the leading pathway for their introduction. Current multinational trade deals under negotiation will dramatically change trading partnerships and pathways. These changes have considerable potential to influence biological invasions and global biodiversity. Using a database of 47 328 interceptions spanning 10 years, we demonstrate how development and governance socio-economic indicators of trading partners can predict exotic species interceptions. For import pathways associated with vegetable material, a significantly higher risk of exotic species interceptions was associated with countries that are poorly regulated, have more forest cover and have surprisingly low corruption. Corruption and indicators such as political stability or adherence to rule of law were important in vehicle or timber import pathways. These results will be of considerable value to policy makers, primarily by shifting quarantine procedures to focus on countries of high risk based on their socio-economic status. Further, using New Zealand as an example, we demonstrate how a ninefold reduction in incursions could be achieved if socio-economic indicators were used to select trade partners. International trade deals that ignore governance and development indicators may facilitate introductions and biodiversity loss. Development and governance within countries clearly have biodiversity implications beyond borders.

Networks of global bird invasion altered by regional trade ban

“…However, alternative trade routes have opened since then, leading to potential increases in invasion risks in countries that otherwise had remained relatively less affected by bird invasions. Remaining trade flows have also been redirected toward developing countries, mainly around the tropical belt where biodiversity is high but resources to manage invasive species are limited ( 20 ).…”

“…In particular, network models can be used to identify countries or regions emerging as central to these newly formed trade relations, where new invasions may thus be likely to occur. Investing in better biosecurity, surveillance for likely high-risk invasive species, and improved socioeconomic governance ( 20 ) in such countries will enable the global community to more effectively prevent and mitigate future biological invasions.…”

Introduction pathways and socio‐economic variables drive the distribution of alien amphibians and reptiles in a megadiverse country

“…Exotic species from all continents have been introduced to Brazil, with a higher proportion of species from South and North America, followed by Asia and Africa. The predominance of species originating from South America may be related to the high diversity and socio‐economic pressures inherent in developing countries, where poverty and poor infrastructure lead to inefficient inspections and biosafety, making corruption and the trafficking of animals attractive alternatives (Auliya et al, ; Balmford et al, ; Brenton‐Rule, Barbieri, & Lester, ).…”

Stronger regional biosecurity is essential to prevent hundreds of harmful biological invasions

“…At a global level, a number of international agreements have been instituted (e.g. the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments), and international standards have been set to prevent the transportation of harmful alien species (Brenton-Rule, Barbieri, & Lester, 2016;McGeoch et al, 2010;Turbelin et al, 2017). At a national level, countries have developed legislation that aims to prevent invasions, and have implemented a range of biosecurity interventions (Early et al, 2016;McGeoch et al, 2010;Sikes et al, 2018).…”