User:Managementofbiologicalinvasions/Managementofbiologicalinvasions

Introduction
Biological Invasions are a important drivers of Global Change Invasive species. Although many definitions have been proposed to define what an invasive species is, the basic concept moves around non-native species which are spreading over a given geographical area. The area on which the species spreads and rates of expansion have also been subjected to debate. However, many of the classifications propossed are merely subjective impresions arising from the conflict between observer temporal and spatial scale and the scales on which ecosystem processes operate. A comprenhesive review is available at Invasive species

Management of Biological Invasions is a complex field, as it requires working in multidisciplinary teams composed by people with deep knowledge on science, ecology and biology, mathematics, ingeneering, laws, and a certain background on sociology, economy and politics. Managers do not usually work on single species, but on a broad number of them. Very different groups of organisms may be attempted to be managed, which obviously involves knowledge about a large ammount of aspects. These are related to species behaviour, ecological processes, multi-species interactions (alien species vs other alien species, alien species vs native species). Managers must be able to design and interpret methods and results on demography, predictions or trends, which means having an appropriate skill on mathematical techniques.

Scientific knowledge is essential for correctly managing organisms invasions, specially in natural and seminatural areas, since ingeeniring techniques are more difficult to apply in field. Lets remember that the final aim of Managing Biological Invasions is to aid long-term Conservation of Biodiversity. Consequently, approaches that imply environmental impacts are difficult to assume. This is not the case of, for instance, agricultural invaders, where a certain suite of plaguicides and control techniques may be displayed. Only when critically endangered species or ecological processes that are essential for ecosystem maintenance are clearly threatened approaches usually employed in engenieering may be implemented at local scales.

Nowadays, in the Era of knowledge, scientific production is hughe. Every year thousands of papers on the above mentioned disciplines are published. This means that team members must do an extra-effort to be updated, not only about results or methods applied, but also on who is working on each area. Teams members continuously request from authors and other groups sharing experiences and helping doubts to be solved. Technicians must spend considerable time reading, thinking and designing how to implement scientifically-based approches to real field conditions.

Management actions may lead some kind of social repercussion, for instance, if the species is subjected to some kind of use. These type of situations are very complex to manage, and the degree of social involucration must be throughly analysed. Since potential feasibility must be exhaustively analysed before starting any action and given that resources are limited, frequently, in case of potential social conflicts, priority is derived towards other invasion scenarios.

Open Resources for Information on Management of Biological Invasions
Invasive Species Specialists Group (UICN). http://www.issg.org

Management of Biological Invasions. Open Access Journal. http://www.managementofbiologicalinvasions.net