Should Biological Invasions Be Managed as Natural Disasters?

Biological invasions and natural disasters are similar phenomena: Their causes are well understood, but their occurrences are generally unpredictable and uncontrollable. Both invasions and natural disasters can generate enormous environmental damage, and the frequency of damaging events is inversely proportional to their magnitude. Many nations invest in personnel training, disaster preparedness, and emergency response plans for extreme natural hazards (e.g., earthquakes), despite the rarity of such events. Similar precautions for invasive species (apart from infectious diseases) are not comprehensively applied by any nation, even though the impacts of invasions are less predictable and often irrevocable. Furthermore, the annual combined economic cost of invasions worldwide exceeds that of natural disasters. Preventative management of invasions—like that of natural disasters—requires international coordination of early-warning systems, immediate access to critical information, specialized training of personnel, and rapid-response strategies.