TY - JOUR
T1 - Beyond protocols
T2 - improving the reliability of expert-based risk analysis underpinning invasive species policies
AU - Vanderhoeven, Sonia
AU - Branquart, Etienne
AU - Casaer, Jim
AU - D’hondt, Bram
AU - Hulme, Philip E.
AU - Shwartz, Assaf
AU - Strubbe, Diederik
AU - Turbé, Anne
AU - Verreycken, Hugo
AU - Adriaens, Tim
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, The Author(s).
PY - 2017/9/1
Y1 - 2017/9/1
N2 - Risk assessment tools for listing invasive alien species need to incorporate all available evidence and expertise. Beyond the wealth of protocols developed to date, we argue that the current way of performing risk analysis has several shortcomings. In particular, lack of data on ecological impacts, transparency and repeatability of assessments as well as the incorporation of uncertainty should all be explicitly considered. We recommend improved quality control of risk assessments through formalized peer review with clear feedback between assessors and reviewers. Alternatively, a consensus building process can be applied to better capture opinions of different experts, thereby maximizing the evidential basis. Elaborating on manageability of invasive species is further needed to fully answer all risk analysis requirements. Tackling the issue of invasive species urges better handling of the acquired information on risk and the exploration of improved methods for decision making on biodiversity management. This is crucial for efficient conservation resource allocation and uptake by stakeholders and the public.
AB - Risk assessment tools for listing invasive alien species need to incorporate all available evidence and expertise. Beyond the wealth of protocols developed to date, we argue that the current way of performing risk analysis has several shortcomings. In particular, lack of data on ecological impacts, transparency and repeatability of assessments as well as the incorporation of uncertainty should all be explicitly considered. We recommend improved quality control of risk assessments through formalized peer review with clear feedback between assessors and reviewers. Alternatively, a consensus building process can be applied to better capture opinions of different experts, thereby maximizing the evidential basis. Elaborating on manageability of invasive species is further needed to fully answer all risk analysis requirements. Tackling the issue of invasive species urges better handling of the acquired information on risk and the exploration of improved methods for decision making on biodiversity management. This is crucial for efficient conservation resource allocation and uptake by stakeholders and the public.
KW - Alien species listing
KW - Biosecurity
KW - Decision making
KW - Evidence-based conservation
KW - Expert-elicitation
KW - Manageability
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85018264690&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10530-017-1434-0
DO - 10.1007/s10530-017-1434-0
M3 - ???researchoutput.researchoutputtypes.contributiontojournal.article???
AN - SCOPUS:85018264690
SN - 1387-3547
VL - 19
SP - 2507
EP - 2517
JO - Biological Invasions
JF - Biological Invasions
IS - 9
ER -