Economic Impacts of Non-Native Forest Insects in the Continental United States

Abstract

Reliable estimates of the impacts and costs of biological invasions are critical to developing credible management, trade and regulatory policies. Worldwide, forests and urban trees provide important ecosystem services as well as economic and social benefits, but are threatened by non-native insects. More than 450 non-native forest insects are established in the United States but estimates of broad-scale economic impacts associated with these species are largely unavailable. We developed a novel modeling approach that maximizes the use of available data, accounts for multiple sources of uncertainty, and provides cost estimates for three major feeding guilds of non-native forest insects. For each guild, we calculated the economic damages for five cost categories and we estimated the probability of future introductions of damaging pests. We found that costs are largely borne by homeowners and municipal governments. Wood- and phloem-boring insects are anticipated to cause the largest economic impacts by annually inducing nearly $1.7 billion in local government expenditures and approximately $830 million in lost residential property values. Given observations of new species, there is a 32% chance that another highly destructive borer species will invade the U.S. in the next 10 years. Our damage estimates provide a crucial but previously missing component of cost-benefit analyses to evaluate policies and management options intended to reduce species introductions. The modeling approach we developed is highly flexible and could be similarly employed to estimate damages in other countries or natural resource sectors.

Part of the solution? Stakeholder awareness, information and engagement in tree health issues

“…lower timber value, reduced aesthetic value) and social value (e.g. changes to landscape) (Brasier 2008;Boyd et al 2013;Holmes et al 2009;Aukema et al 2011;Liebhold et al 2012;McFarlane et al 2012). However, Smith et al (2007) warn that there is not necessarily a direct relationship between growth in trade and increase in pests, noting that a few commodities may be responsible for many pest introductions.…”

Progress and Challenges of Protecting North American Ash Trees from the Emerald Ash Borer Using Biological Control

“…Moreover, ash trees were widely planted as landscape trees in urban forests, and an estimate for the undiscounted value of these trees in the United States ranged from $20-60 billion soon after EAB's discovery [11]. A cost projection of EAB in just 25 northeastern communities of the United States for only one decade (2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019) to treat, remove, and replace landscape ash was $25 billion [49], making EAB the most destructive and costly wood-boring insect to invade the United States [50].…”

Learning and linking for invasive species management

“…Like other invasive species, EAB has multiple types of impacts: social, economic, and ecological. A 2011 economic analysis concluded that the financial impact of EAB was borne by homeowners and local governments via local expenditures and losses to property value (Aukema et al 2011). The EAB causes 100% mortality of all ash within 10-20 years of introduction (Smitley et al 2008).…”