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Political instability links to invasive species risk: New Zealand study

Xinhua, June 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

New Zealand's choice of trade partners should include the country's political environment in order to prevent unwelcome plant and pest invasions, according to a study out Wednesday.

New Zealand received imports - and unwelcome invasive species - from around the world, along with invasive species that were a leading cause of the country's extinctions and biodiversity crisis, said Victoria University researchers.

But the invaders came at different rates from different countries, with a country's levels of governance and development strongly influencing their risk of exporting exotic species.

"We found countries with poor regulation and low political stability pose more of an invasive species risk," researchers Evan Brenton-Rule said in a statement.

"If New Zealand carefully selects trade partners based on these factors, we could expect up to nine times less invasive species coming to the border."

Co-author Professor Phil Lester said biological invasions cost New Zealand hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

"When you consider the amount that is spent on biological invasions in New Zealand, anything we can do to target our biosecurity resources and limit the number of invaders at our border would be extremely beneficial," Lester said in the statement.

"For example, the eradication of just three small nests of the red imported fire ant into New Zealand cost in excess of 10 million NZ dollars (7.03 million U.S. dollars)."

The study analyzed international trade volumes and 10 years of data, which included almost 50,000 interceptions of invasive species.

"Although an extreme option, it's interesting to look at how selectively trading with certain countries could dramatically influence the number of biological invasions in New Zealand," said Brenton-Rule.

"It's worthwhile thinking about how international trade deals and a change in trading partners may impact the number of exotic species knocking on our country's door. There are millions of dollars of control or eradication programs at stake here, as well as potential biodiversity loss." Endit