Biological invasions are an important facet of the Anthropocene, as they are reshaping ecosystems globally. The rate of new introductions continues to rise with no signs of slowing in the future. Furthermore, global change is likely to exacerbate the impacts of invasions on food security, human health, and ecosystem function and services. The “biological invasion crisis” spans all geographies and spatial scales, involving a diverse range of stakeholders, and competing interests and priorities. However, the availability of scientific information and translation of that information into policy terms is poorly understood. The Invasive Species Working Group at Virginia Tech, a subset of faculty affiliates of the Global Change Center, is addressing this knowing-doing gap. We convened two workshops designed to engage stakeholders from across Virginia to improve engagement and communication, and a third workshop to identify key science and policy gaps.
Results/Conclusions
Our first workshop, Biological Invasions: Confronting a Crisis, engaged over 60 participants including researchers, extension personnel, educators, local, state, and federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and land managers working on invasive species in Virginia. Through a series of keynote talks, active-engagement sessions, think-pair-share, and community reporting, a broad consensus was reached on the urgent need for a multi-stakeholder coalition, with a focus on communication across stakeholder groups and information sharing. We next held a Devising Seminar on Biological Invasions in Richmond, VA engaging key stakeholders to develop a plan to address management barriers in Virginia. Stakeholders came up with policy, social, and technical action items that are worth considering and putting into place in a strategic way. Most recently, we held a workshop to identify Gaps in the Invasion Science, Policy, and their Interface, inviting key field leaders globally with the intention of making recommendations to improve federal policy to mitigate the biological invasion crisis.
This work has made clear the diversity, divisions, and opportunities among stakeholders working across the complex and complicated space of biological invasions. Managers are hungry for the latest scientific information, researchers could benefit from more real-time data on emerging invaders and their management, ample opportunities exist for fruitful partnerships with advocates and industry, and current US policy is woefully inadequate to meaningfully mitigate the threat of invasive species.