Resource Number: 14591
Title: Data Matters: Informing the Eradication of Invasive Species on Islands (North America and the Arctic Region)
Publisher: National Invasive Species Council
Description: Introduced, invasive (harmful) species are a key threat to native species on islands in North America and the Arctic. For many islands in these regions, conservation action is possible, including the
eradication of invasive vertebrates to stop harmful impacts to, and aid recovery of, threatened native species and habitats. Effective conservation prioritization and planning for such actions is limited by a lack of island-specific data on native and invasive species, as well as interoperability of existing datasets to make existing data uniformly comparable. To improve the knowledge base for well-informed decision-making, Island Conservation was contracted by the National Invasive Species Council (nisc) Secretariat to help advance the 2016–2018 nisc Management Plan Actions 2.5, 2.6, and 3.2. To this end we 1) summarized baseline data available on native and invasive vertebrates on islands in the North American and Arctic regions, identified data gaps and suggested strategies to overcome data limitations (data mobilization campaign), 2) described and applied a prioritization schema to identify potential island conservation action priorities in these regions based on globally threatened species (a prioritization tool), and 3) described a step-wise process for advancing a prioritized island to eradication, confirming of success, and documenting recovery (a roadmap for action).
For each task, we summarize our main findings and provide recommendations that emerge from the narratives. The recommendations are intended for nisc members and other U.S. island decision-makers intent on guiding strategies and actions for the eradication of invasive species from U.S. islands.
Last Updated: June 20, 2019
Contributors:
Domain(s)/Area(S):
- Pathways