title: Biological invasions, ecological resilience and adaptive governance.
abstract: In a world of increasing interconnections in global trade as well as rapid change in climate and land cover, the accelerating introduction and spread of invasive species is a critical concern due to associated negative social and ecological impacts, both real and perceived. Much of the societal response to invasive species to date has been associated with negative economic consequences of invasions. This response has shaped a war-like approach to addressing invasions, one with an agenda of eradications and intense ecological restoration efforts towards prior or more desirable ecological regimes. This trajectory often ignores the concept of ecological resilience and associated approaches of resilience-based governance. We argue that the relationship between ecological resilience and invasive species has been understudied to the detriment of attempts to govern invasions, and that most management actions fail, primarily because they do not incorporate adaptive, learning-based approaches. Invasive species can decrease resilience by reducing the biodiversity that underpins ecological functions and processes, making ecosystems more prone to regime shifts. However, invasions do not always result in a shift to an alternative regime; invasions can also increase resilience by introducing novelty, replacing lost ecological functions or adding redundancy that strengthens already existing structures and processes in an ecosystem. This paper examines the potential impacts of species invasions on the resilience of ecosystems and suggests that resilience-based approaches can inform policy by linking the governance of biological invasions to the negotiation of tradeoffs between ecosystem services.
authors.affiliation: Department of Society & Conservation, College of Forestry & Conservation, University of Montana, 32 Campus Drive, Missoula, MT 59812, USA. Electronic address: brian.chaffin@umontana.edu.
authors.forename: Brian C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Chaffin
authors.affiliation: National Risk Management Research Laboratory, United States Environmental Protection Agency, 26 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA. Electronic address: garmestani.ahjond@epa.gov.
authors.forename: Ahjond S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Garmestani
authors.affiliation: Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7050, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: david.angeler@slu.se.
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Angeler
authors.affiliation: Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Research Participant Program with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 26 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA. Electronic address: herrmann.dustin@epa.gov.
authors.forename: Dustin L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Herrmann
authors.affiliation: Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 4840 S. State Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48108-9719, USA. Electronic address: craig.stow@noaa.gov.
authors.forename: Craig A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Stow
authors.affiliation: Stockholm Resilience Center, Stockholm University, Kräftriket 2B, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: magnus.nystrom@su.se.
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nyström
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Science (BOKU), Max Emanuel-Strasse 17, A-1180, Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: jan.sendzimir@boku.ac.at.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sendzimir
authors.affiliation: National Risk Management Research Laboratory, United States Environmental Protection Agency, 26 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA. Electronic address: hopton.matthew@epa.gov.
authors.forename: Matthew E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Hopton
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada. Electronic address: kolasa@mcmaster.ca.
authors.forename: Jurek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kolasa
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit, University of Nebraska 423 Hardin Hall, 3310 Holdrege Street, Lincoln, NE 68583-0984, USA. Electronic address: callen3@unl.edu.
authors.forename: Craig R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Allen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D058735:Environmental Policy; D058865:Introduced Species
keywords: Adaptive governance; Adaptive management; Biological invasions; Ecological resilience; Ecosystem services; Invasive species