More than 50,000 species of plants, animals, and microbes that have been introduced into the United States are estimated to have become invasive. They have caused widespread and hugely expensive damage, particularly to agriculture but also to power generation systems, waterways, and infrastructure generally. Yet reliable information about their effects is not just of interest to environmentalists, economists, and the public. Ecologists are well aware of the impacts that invasive species have on biodiversity: Many invaders have reduced native species' numbers and ranges by outcompeting them, by feeding on them, or by parasitizing them. Some invaders have caused extinctions of native species.
In assessing these impacts, economists attempt to consider both the costs of controlling the invasive species and the damages they cause to agriculture and the environment broadly. The authors of Bioeconomics of Invasive Species provide an in-depth perspective on numerous attempts to understand and manage the consequences of invasive species. They concentrate particularly on those that are a hazard to the environment or are costly in terms of the harm they cause and the price of control. The book provides valuable insights for combating the threat that nonindigenous species pose for the environmental and economic wellbeing of society.
The scientific issues involved in both these considerations are highly complex and difficult to understand and assess. Interestingly, more than 99 percent of all US crops, including corn, wheat, soybeans, and others, were introduced into the United States. But this fact does not diminish the serious ecological and economic problems associated with invasive species. The increasing movement of people and goods throughout the world makes it likely that invasive species will continue to be a serious problem.
The diversity of behaviors and activities of invasive species makes it more difficult to find solutions to control them. In addition, the effects of invasives on agriculture, fisheries, public health, and other aspects of the economy are widespread. Ecologists and economists have occasionally worked with one another to understand the complex issues that invasive species raise for each discipline independently and jointly. Each discipline has a distinctive perspective and is itself an obstacle to comprehension. When they attempt to merge their techniques and focus on one approach to the problem, the situation becomes highly complicated.
Ecologists tend to rely on the estimates of economic consequences of invasive species provided by managers and specialists in agriculture, fisheries, and energy production activities. Such estimates of costs and benefits may lack the sophistication of assessments provided by some economists. Yet ecologists sometimes question the approach typically employed by economists, which is based on the concept of measuring “willingness to pay.”
Measuring willingness to pay can be a highly valuable measure for some problems, including some caused by invasive species. For example, the technique is sound when determining the public's willingness to pay for a specific program of mosquito control to limit the spread of West Nile disease, because the public can be made aware of the risks of the disease and of control measures. However, use of the willingness-to-pay approach in surveys of public attitudes to the use of pesticides generally can be misleading as a way of assessing their public health impacts. Few members of the public have adequate knowledge of the extent of pesticide use and the damage it causes to beneficial native organisms in forests, grasslands, lakes, rivers, and other ecosystems. In addition, the public often does not understand the effects pesticide use may have on human health. These limitations compromise the value of attempts to use the willingness-to-pay approach to assess many of the economic impacts of pesticide use.
In Bioeconomics of Invasive Species, the authors attempt to investigate and untangle the complexity of the ecology of many notable invasives and identify their economic interrelationships in various environmental situations. Two chapters examine approaches to modeling of the spread of invasives. The book's major strength may be its integrated analyses of fisheries and various other societal institutions that are adversely affected by invasive species. The authors warn against relying on oversimplified investigations.
In short, the book is valuable as a source of reliable information related to the management of invasive species ranging from plants to animals to microbes. Its messages are well worth studying for readers interested in biology, ecology, economics, geography, and related applied disciplines.
