A four-component classification of uncertainties in biological invasions: implications for management

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • G. Latombe
  • S. Canavan
  • Heidi Hirsch
  • C. Hui
  • Sabrina Kumschick
  • M. M. Niskani
  • L. J. Potgieter
  • T. B. Robinson
  • Wolf Christian Saul
  • Sophia Turner
  • John R. U. Wilson
  • Florencia A. Yannelli
  • David M. Richardson
Although uncertainty is an integral part of any science, it raises doubts in public perception about scientific evidence, is exploited by denialists, and therefore potentially hinders the implementation of management actions. As a relatively young field of study, invasion science contains many uncertainties. This may explain why, despite international policies aimed at mitigating biological invasions, the implementation of national- and regional-scale measures to prevent or control alien species has done little to slow the increase in extent of invasions and the magnitude of impacts. Uncertainty is therefore a critical aspect of invasion science that should be addressed to enable the field to progress further. To improve how uncertainties in invasion science are captured and characterized, we propose a framework, which is also applicable to other applied research fields such as climate and conservation science, divided into four components: the need (1) to clearly circumscribe the phenomenon, (2) to measure and provide evidence for the phenomenon (i.e., confirmation), (3) to understand the mechanisms that cause the phenomenon, and (4) to understand the mechanisms through which the phenomenon results in consequences. We link these issues to three major types of uncertainty: linguistic, psychological, and epistemic. The application of this framework shows that the four components tend to be characterized by different types of uncertainty in invasion science. We explain how these uncertainties can be detrimental to the implementation of management measures and propose ways to reduce them. Since biological invasions are increasingly tightly embedded in complex socio-ecological systems, many problems associated with these uncertainties have convoluted solutions. They demand the consensus of many stakeholders to define and frame the dimensions of the phenomenon, and to decide on appropriate actions. While many of the uncertainties cannot be eliminated completely, we believe that using this framework to explicitly identify and communicate them will help to improve collaboration between researchers and managers, increase scientific, political, and public support for invasion research, and provide a stronger foundation for sustainable management strategies.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere02669
JournalEcosphere
Volume10
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)1-25
Number of pages25
ISSN2150-8925
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.04.2019
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Authors.

    Research areas

  • Ecosystems Research - impact, invasive alien species, management, non-native species, uncertainty

DOI

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Mapping industrial patterns in spatial agglomeration
  2. Reframing the technosphere
  3. Solvable problems or problematic solvability?
  4. Determinants of mandatory goodwill disclosure
  5. Theorizing the Role of Metaphors in Co-orienting Collective Action Toward Grand Challenges
  6. Long-term population dynamics of Dactylorhiza incarnata (L.) Soo after abandonment and re-introduction of mowing
  7. Digital–sustainable co-transformation
  8. Generalized self-efficacy as a mediator and moderator between control and complexity at work and personal initiative
  9. A transdisciplinary evaluation framework for the assessment of integration in boundary-crossing collaborations in teacher education
  10. Process Analysis of Grounding Activities in Net-Based Cooperative Learning
  11. Adaptive Environments
  12. A scale-up procedure to dialkyl carbonates; evaluation of their properties, biodegradability, and toxicity
  13. Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning relations in European forests depend on environmental context.
  14. The challenges of gamifying CSR communication
  15. Workforce age trends and projections
  16. Mining for critical stock price movements using temporal power laws and integrated autoregressive models
  17. Semi-Supervised Generative Models for Multi-Agent Trajectories
  18. Instruments for research on transition. Applied methods and approaches for exploring the transition of young care leavers to adulthood
  19. Leveraging the macro-level environment to balance work and life
  20. Robustness of coherent sets computations
  21. Structural ambidexterity, transition processes, and integration trade‐offs: a longitudinal study of failed exploration
  22. Putting adaptive planning into practice: A meta-analysis of current applications
  23. How secondary-school students deal with issues of sustainable development in class*
  24. Towards greener and sustainable ionic liquids using naturally occurring and nature-inspired pyridinium structures
  25. Competition in fragmented markets
  26. Tree diversity and nectar composition affect arthropod visitors on extrafloral nectaries in a diversity experiment
  27. The impact of partially missing communities on the reliability of centrality measures