Publication

Invasive Species, Agriculture and Trade

Case Studies From the NAFTA Context

Description

Invasions by plants, animals, and pathogens into non-native environments pose one of the most significant, but least addressed, international threats to biodiversity, both within natural ecosystems and agricultural settings. For agriculture, one recent study estimates that 40% of all insect damage to crops in the U.S. is attributable to non-indigenous species (Pimentel et al. 2000). The impacts from and costs of invasive species can be divided broadly into six categories: crop losses, rangeland value decline, water resource depletion, livestock disease, genetic contamination, and management and eradication costs.

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