Skip to main content

Guidelines for Addressing Invasive Species in Protected Areas

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Plant Invasions in Protected Areas

Part of the book series: Invading Nature - Springer Series in Invasion Ecology ((INNA,volume 7))

Abstract

Biological invasions pose a severe and increasing threat to the world’s protected areas, and protected areas are being called upon to improve their management efficacy. Based on a review of best practice cases presented in this book and other sources, a set of guidelines to deal with invasive alien species is proposed, discussing the challenges and opportunities that protected areas face. These guidelines have a broader scope than the management of invasive alien plants within protected areas only, and include recommendations on all aspects related to invasive species, from raising awareness within the public and decision makers, to developing staff capacity, encouraging responsible behaviour, implementing prevention actions, improving the ability to react promptly to new incursions, developing surveillance and monitoring frameworks, integrating invasive species into management plans, and also for encouraging action at a broader scale than that of the protected area. These guidelines can help protected areas play a key role in preventing and mitigating the global effects of biological invasions, also catalysing more stringent action and policies at all scales.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 219.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 279.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 279.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Amat JN, Cardigos F, Santos RS (2008) The recent northern introduction of the seaweed Caulerpa webbiana (Caulerpales, Chlorophyta) in Faial, Azores Islands (North-Eastern Atlantic). Aquat Invasions 3:417–422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baret S, Baider C, Kueffer C et al (2014) Chapter 19: Threats to paradise? Plant invasion in protected areas of Western Indian Ocean islands. In: Foxcroft LC, Pyšek P, Richardson DM, Genovesi P (eds) Plant invasions in protected areas: patterns, problems and challenges. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 423–447

    Google Scholar 

  • Bazzaz FA (1986) Life history of colonizing plants: some demographic, genetic, and physiological features. In: Mooney HA, Drake J (eds) Ecology of biological invasions of North America and Hawaii. Springer, New York, pp 96–110

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bergstrom DM, Chown SL (1999) Life at the front: history, ecology and change on southern ocean islands. Trends Ecol Evol 14:472–477

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boshoff AF, Landman M, Kerley GIH et al (2008) Visitors’ views on alien animal species in national parks: a case study from South Africa. S Afr J Sci 104:326–328

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown WT, Krasny ME, Schoch N (2001) Volunteer monitoring of non-indigenous, invasive species. Nat Areas J 21:189–196

    Google Scholar 

  • Brundu G (2014) Chapter 18: Invasive alien plants in protected areas in Mediterranean islands: knowledge gaps and main threats. In: Foxcroft LC, Pyšek P, Richardson DM, Genovesi P (eds) Plant invasions in protected areas: patterns, problems and challenges. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 395–422

    Google Scholar 

  • Brunel S, Fernández-Galiano E, Genovesi P et al (2013) Invasive alien species: a growing but neglected threat? In: Late lessons from early warning: science, precaution, innovation. Lessons for preventing harm. EEA report 1/2013, Copenhagen, pp 518–540

    Google Scholar 

  • Butchart SHM, Walpole M, Collen B et al (2010) Global biodiversity: indicators of recent declines. Science 328:1164–1168

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cox R, Underwood C (2011) The importance of conserving biodiversity outside of protected areas in Mediterranean ecosystems. PLos One 6(1):e14508

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson W, Burslem DFRP, Hulme PE (2011) The comparative importance of species traits and introduction characteristics in tropical plant invasions. Divers Distrib 17:1111–1121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Poorter M (2007) Invasive alien species and protected areas: a scoping report. Part 1. Scoping the scale and nature of invasive alien species threats to protected areas, impediments to invasive alien species management and means to address those impediments. Global Invasive Species Programme, Invasive Species Specialist Group. http://www.issg.org/gisp_publications_reports.htm

  • Dietz H, Kueffer C, Parks CG (2006) MIREN: a new research network concerned with plant invasion into mountain areas. Mt Res Dev 26:80–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dudley N, Stolton S, Belokurov A et al (2010) Natural solutions: protected areas helping people cope with climate change. WWF International, Gland

    Google Scholar 

  • Foxcroft LC (2001) A case study of human dimensions in invasion and control of alien plants in the personnel villages of Kruger National Park. In: McNeely JA (ed) The great reshuffling: human dimensions of invasive alien species. IUCN, Gland/Cambridge, pp 127–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Foxcroft LC, Freitag-Ronaldson S (2007) Seven decades of institutional learning: managing alien plant invasions in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Oryx 41:160–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foxcroft LC, McGeoch MA (2011) Implementing invasive species management in an adaptive management framework. Koedoe 53:111–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foxcroft LC, Richardson DM, Wilson JRU (2008) Ornamental plants as invasive aliens: problems and solutions in Kruger National Park, South Africa. Environ Manage 41:32–51

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Foxcroft LC, Richardson DM, Rouget M et al (2009) Patterns of alien plant distribution at multiple spatial scales in a large national park: implications for ecology, management and monitoring. Divers Distrib 15:367–378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foxcroft LC, Jarošík V, Pyšek P et al (2011) Protected-area boundaries as filters of plant invasions. Conserv Biol 25:400–405

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Foxcroft LC, Pyšek P, Richardson DM et al (2014) Chapter 2: The bottom line: impacts of alien plant invasions in protected areas. In: Foxcroft LC, Pyšek P, Richardson DM, Genovesi P (eds) Plant invasions in protected areas: patterns, problems and challenges. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 19–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Frenot Y, Chown SL, Whinam J et al (2005) Biological invasions in the Antarctic: extent, impacts and implications. Biol Rev 80:45–72

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gallo T, Wait D (2011) Creating a successful citizen science model to detect and report invasive species. BioScience 61:459–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Genovesi P, Scalera R, Brunel S et al (2010) Towards an early warning and information system for invasive alien species (IAS) threatening biodiversity in Europe. EEA technical report n.5/2010. European Environment Agency, Copenhagen

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris A, Timmins SM (2009) Estimating the benefit of early control of all newly naturalised plants, Science for conservation No. 292. New Zealand Department of Conservation, Wellington

    Google Scholar 

  • Heywood V (2012) European code of conduct for botanic gardens on invasive alien species. Council of Europe Document T-PVS/Inf (2012)1. Council of Europe, Strasbourg

    Google Scholar 

  • Heywood V, Brunel S (2009) Code of conduct on horticulture and invasive alien plants. Nat Environ 155:1–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Hulme PE, Bacher S, Kenis M et al (2008) Grasping at the routes of biological invasions: a framework for integrating pathways into policy. J Appl Ecol 45:403–414

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hulme PE, Burslem DFRP, Dawson W et al (2014) Chapter 8: Aliens in the arc: are invasive trees a threat to the Montane forests of East Africa? In: Foxcroft LC, Pyšek P, Richardson DM, Genovesi P (eds) Plant invasions in protected areas: patterns, problems and challenges. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 145–165

    Google Scholar 

  • IUCN (2013) Guidelines for reintroductions and other conservation translocations. Adopted by SSC Steering Committee, 5th September 2012. IUCN SSC Reintroduction Specialist Group and Invasive Species Specialist Group

    Google Scholar 

  • Kueffer C, Daehler CC, Torres-Santana CW et al (2010) A global comparison of plant invasions on oceanic islands. Perspect Plant Ecol Evol Syst 12:145–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kueffer C, McDougall K, Alexander J et al (2014) Chapter 21: Plant invasions into mountain protected areas: assessment, prevention and control at multiple spatial scales. In: Foxcroft LC, Pyšek P, Richardson DM, Genovesi P (eds) Plant invasions in protected areas: patterns, problems and challenges. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 473–486

    Google Scholar 

  • Laurance WF, Useche DC, Rendeiro J et al (2012) Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas. Nature 489:290–294

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Loope LL (2004) The challenge of effectively addressing the threat of invasive species to the National Park System. Park Sci 22(2):14–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Loope LL, Flint Hughes R, Meyer J-Y (2014) Chapter 18: Plant invasions in protected areas of tropical pacific islands, with special reference to Hawaii. In: Foxcroft LC, Pyšek P, Richardson DM, Genovesi P (eds) Plant invasions in protected areas: patterns, problems and challenges. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 395–422

    Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald IAW, Loope LL, Usher MB et al (1989) Wildlife conservation and the invasion of nature reserves by introduced species: a global perspective. In: Drake JA, Mooney HA, di Castri F et al (eds) Biological invasions: a global perspective. Wiley, Chichester, pp 215–255

    Google Scholar 

  • McCreedy C, Toline CA, McDonough V (2012) Lionfish response plan: a systematic approach to managing impacts from the lionfish, an invasive species, in units of the National Park System. Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/WRD/NRR—2012/497. National Park Service, Fort Collins

    Google Scholar 

  • McNeely J (2014) Chapter 6: Global efforts to address the wicked problem of invasive alien species. In: Foxcroft LC, Pyšek P, Richardson DM, Genovesi P (eds) Plant invasions in protected areas: patterns, problems and challenges. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 89–113

    Google Scholar 

  • Meiners SJ, Pickett STA (2014) Chapter 3: Plant invasion in protected landscapes: exception or expectation? In: Foxcroft LC, Pyšek P, Richardson DM, Genovesi P (eds) Plant invasions in protected areas: patterns, problems and challenges. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 43–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer JY, Fourdrigniez M, Taputuarai R (2010) The recovery of the native and endemic flora after the introduction of a fungal pathogen to control the invasive tree Miconia calvescens in Tahiti, French Polynesia. Biol Control Nat 3:1–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyerson LA, Pyšek P (2014) Chapter 21: Manipulating alien species propagule pressure as a prevention strategy in protected areas. In: Foxcroft LC, Pyšek P, Richardson DM, Genovesi P (eds) Plant invasions in protected areas: patterns, problems and challenges. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 473–486

    Google Scholar 

  • Monaco A, Genovesi P (2013) European guidelines on protected areas and invasive alien species. Council of Europe Document T-PVS/Inf (2013) 22. Council of Europe, Strasbourg

    Google Scholar 

  • Mora C, Sale P (2011) Ongoing global biodiversity loss and the need to move beyond protected areas: a review of the technical and practical shortcoming of protected areas on land and sea. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 434:251–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pyšek P, Hulme PE, Nentwig W (2009) Glossary of the main technical terms used in the handbook. In: DAISIE (ed) Handbook of alien species in Europe. Springer, Berlin, pp 375–379

    Google Scholar 

  • Pyšek P, Genovesi P, Pergl J et al (2014) Chapter 11: Invasion of protected areas in Europe: an old continent facing new problems. In: Foxcroft LC, Pyšek P, Richardson DM, Genovesi P (eds) Plant invasions in protected areas: patterns, problems and challenges. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 209–240

    Google Scholar 

  • Rahel FJ, Olden JD (2008) Assessing the effects of climate change on aquatic invasive species. Conserv Biol 22:521–533

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Randall J (2011) Protected areas. In: Simberloff D, Rejmánek M (eds) Encyclopedia of biological invasions. University of California Press, Berkeley/Los Angeles, pp 563–567

    Google Scholar 

  • Raudsepp-Hearne C, Peterson GD, Tengö M et al (2010) Untangling the environmentalist’s paradox: why is human well-being increasing as ecosystem services degrade? BioScience 60:576–589

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ricciardi A, Simberloff D (2009) Assisted colonization is not a viable conservation strategy. Trends Ecol Evol 24:248–253

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rose M, Hermanutz L (2004) Are boreal ecosystems susceptible to alien plant invasion? Evidence from protected areas. Oecologia 139:467–477

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scalera R, Zaghi D (2004) Life focus/alien species and nature conservation in the EU: the role of the life program. European Commission, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg

    Google Scholar 

  • SCAR (2009) SCAR’s environmental code of conduct for terrestrial scientific field research in Antarctica. In: Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting XXXII. Committee on Environmental Protection XII. Information Paper 004, 6–17 Apr 2009, Baltimore

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoenig S (ed) (2005) California noxious and invasive weed action plan. California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), California Invasive Weed Awareness Coalition (CALIWAC), Sacramento

    Google Scholar 

  • Seipel T, Kueffer C, Rew LJ et al (2012) Processes at multiple scales affect richness and similarity of non-native plant species in mountains around the world. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 21:236–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw J (2014) Chapter 19: Invasion of Southern Ocean Islands: implications for isolated protected areas. In: Foxcroft LC, Pyšek P, Richardson DM, Genovesi P (eds) Plant invasions in protected areas: patterns, problems and challenges. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 423–447

    Google Scholar 

  • Shiu H, Stokes L (2008) Buddhist animal release practices: historic, environmental, public health and economic concerns. Contemp Buddhism 9:181–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simberloff D (2014) Chapter 26: Eradication – pipe dream or real option? In: Foxcroft LC, Pyšek P, Richardson DM, Genovesi P (eds) Plant invasions in protected areas: patterns, problems and challenges. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 561–597

    Google Scholar 

  • Simberloff D, Martin JL, Genovesi P et al (2013) Impacts of biological invasions: what’s what and the way forward. Trends Ecol Evol 28:58–66

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spear D, Foxcroft LC, Bezuidenhout H et al (2013) Human population density explains alien species richness in protected areas. Biol Conserv 159:137–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tu M (2009) Assessing and managing invasive species within protected areas. Protected area quick guide series. In: J. Ervin (ed) The Nature Conservancy, Arlington

    Google Scholar 

  • Tu M, Robison MA (2014) Chapter 24: Overcoming barriers to the prevention and management of alien plant invasions in protected areas: a practical approach. In: Foxcroft LC, Pyšek P, Richardson DM, Genovesi P (eds) Plant invasions in protected areas: patterns, problems and challenges. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 529–547

    Google Scholar 

  • Usher MB (1988) Invasions of nature reserves: a search for generalizations. Biol Conserv 44:119–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Wilgen BW (2012) Evidence, perceptions, and trade-offs associated with invasive alien plant control in the Table Mountain National Park, South Africa. Ecol Soc 17:23

    Google Scholar 

  • van Wilgen BW, Richardson DM (2012) Three centuries of managing introduced conifers in South Africa: benefits, impacts, changing perceptions and conflict resolution. J Environ Manage 106:56–68

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van Wilgen BW, Forsyth GG, Le Maitre DC et al (2012) An assessment of the effectiveness of a large, national-scale invasive alien plant control strategy in South Africa. Biol Conserv 148:28–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vardien W, Richardson DM, Foxcroft LC et al (2013) Management history determines gene flow in a prominent invader. Ecography 36:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitfield PE, Gardner T, Vives SP et al (2002) Biological invasion of the indo-pacific lionfish Pterois volitans along the Atlantic Coast of North America. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 235:289–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willis CG, Ruhfel BR, Primack RB et al (2010) Favorable climate change response explains non-native species’ success in Thoreau’s woods. PLoS One 5(1):e8878

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wittenberg R, Cock MJW (eds) (2001) Invasive alien species: a toolkit of best prevention and management practices. CAB International, Wallingford

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Piero Genovesi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Genovesi, P., Monaco, A. (2013). Guidelines for Addressing Invasive Species in Protected Areas. In: Foxcroft, L., Pyšek, P., Richardson, D., Genovesi, P. (eds) Plant Invasions in Protected Areas. Invading Nature - Springer Series in Invasion Ecology, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7750-7_22

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics