Latest news with #NatureEcology&Evolution
Japan Today
4 days ago
- Science
- Japan Today
Invasive species cost trillions in damages: study
From river-clogging plants to disease-carrying insects, the direct economic cost of invasive species worldwide has averaged about $35 billion a year for decades, researchers say. Since 1960, damage from non-native plants and animals expanding into new territory has cost society more than $2.2 trillion, 17 times higher than previous estimates, they reported in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. The accelerating spread of invasive species -- from mosquitoes to wild boar to tough-to-eradicate plants -- blights agriculture, spreads disease and drives the growing pace of species extinction. Earlier calculations based on highly incomplete data were already known to fall far short of reality. To piece together a more accurate picture, an international team of researchers led by Ismael Soto, a scientist at the University of South Bohemia in the Czech Republic, compiled data on 162 invasive species whose costs have been well documented in at least a handful of countries. They then modeled the economic impact for 78 other countries such as Bangladesh and Costa Rica, for which no data was previously available. "We expected an underestimation of invasion costs, but the magnitude was striking," Soto told AFP. Due mainly to high volumes of trade and travel, tens of thousands of animal and plant species have taken root, sometimes literally, far from their places of origin. Europe is by far the continent most affected by the phenomenon, followed by North America and Asia. "Plants were the most economically damaging group, both for damage and management," Soto said. "Cost hotspots include urban coastal areas, notably in Europe, eastern China, and the U.S." Animals can cause devastating damage too. Wild boar, for example, destroy crops, cornfields and vineyards, while mosquitoes -- with expanding ranges due to global warming -- impose direct costs to human health by spreading diseases such as dengue and malaria. Another example is Japanese knotweed, an invasive plant that is very common in Europe and requires costly eradication programs. "Our study is based on only 162 species," Soto noted. "Our figure is probably still an underestimate of a wider problem, and therefore the real economic costs could be even higher." Using a broader definition -- including indirect costs such as lost income -- the U.N.'s biodiversity expert group, IPBES, has calculated the total cost to society of invasive species at about $400 billion annually. © 2025 AFP
5 days ago
- Science
What would happen if the Amazon rainforest dried out? This decades-long experiment has some answers
CAXIUANA NATIONAL FOREST, Brazil -- A short walk beneath the dense Amazon canopy, the forest abruptly opens up. Fallen logs are rotting, the trees grow sparser and the temperature rises in places sunlight hits the ground. This is what 24 years of severe drought looks like in the world's largest rainforest. But this patch of degraded forest, about the size of a soccer field, is a scientific experiment. Launched in 2000 by Brazilian and British scientists, Esecaflor — short for 'Forest Drought Study Project' in Portuguese— set out to simulate a future in which the changing climate could deplete the Amazon of rainfall. It is the longest-running project of its kind in the world, and has become a source for dozens of academic articles in fields ranging from meteorology to ecology and physiology. Understanding how drought can affect the Amazon, an area twice the size of India that crosses into several South American nations, has implications far beyond the region. The rainforest stores a massive amount of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is the main driver of climate change. According to one study, the Amazon stores the equivalent of two years of global carbon emissions, which mainly come from the burning of coal, oil and gasoline. When trees are cut, or wither and die from drought, they release into the atmosphere the carbon they were storing, which accelerates global warming. To mimic stress from drought, the project, located in the Caxiuana National Forest, assembled about 6,000 transparent plastic rectangular panels across one hectare (2.5 acres), diverting around 50% of the rainfall from the forest floor. They were set 1 meter above ground (3.3 ft) on the sides to 4 meters (13.1 ft) above ground in the center. The water was funneled into gutters and channeled through trenches dug around the plot's perimeter. Next to it, an identical plot was left untouched to serve as a control. In both areas, instruments were attached to trees, placed on the ground and buried to measure soil moisture, air temperature, tree growth, sap flow and root development, among other data. Two metal towers sit above each plot. In each tower, NASA radars measure how much water is in the plants, which helps researchers understand overall forest stress. The data is sent to the space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, where it is processed. 'The forest initially appeared to be resistant to the drought," said Lucy Rowland, an ecology professor at the University of Exeter. That began to change about 8 years in, however. "We saw a really big decline in biomass, big losses and mortality of the largest trees,' said Rowland. This resulted in the loss of approximately 40% of the total weight of the vegetation and the carbon stored within it from the plot. The main findings were detailed in a study published in May in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. It shows that during the years of vegetation loss, the rainforest shifted from a carbon sink, that is, a storer of carbon dioxide, to a carbon emitter, before eventually stabilizing. There was one piece of good news: the decades-long drought didn't turn the rainforest into a savanna, or large grassy plain, as earlier model-based studies had predicted. In November, most of the 6,000 transparent plastic covers were removed, and now scientists are observing how the forest changes. There is currently no end date for the project. 'The forest has already adapted. Now we want to understand what happens next,' said meteorologist João de Athaydes, vice coordinator of Esecaflor, a professor at the Federal University of Para and coauthor of the Nature study. 'The idea is to see whether the forest can regenerate and return to the baseline from when we started the project.' During a visit in April, Athaydes guided Associated Press journalists through the site, which had many researchers. The area was so remote that most researchers had endured a full-day boat trip from the city of Belem, which will host the next annual U.N. climate talks later this year. During the days in the field, the scientists stayed at the Ferreira Penna Scientific Base of the Emilio Goeldi Museum, a few hundred yards (meters) from the plots. Four teams were at work. One collected soil samples to measure root growth in the top layer. Another gathered weather data and tracking soil temperature and moisture. A third was measured vegetation moisture and sap flow. The fourt focused on plant physiology. "We know very little about how drought influences soil processes,' said ecologist Rachel Selman, researcher at the University of Edinburgh and one of the co-authors of the Nature study, during a break. Esecaflor's drought simulation draws some parallels with the past two years, when much of the Amazon rainforest, under the influence of El Nino and the impact of climate change, endured its most severe dry spells on record. The devastating consequences ranged from the death of dozens of river dolphins due to warming and receding waters to vast wildfires in old-growth areas. Rowland explained that the recent El Nino brought short-term, intense impacts to the Amazon, not just through reduced rainfall but also with spikes in temperature and vapor pressure deficit, a measure of how dry the air is. In contrast, the Esecaflor experiment focused only on manipulating soil moisture to study the effects of long-term shifts in rainfall. 'But in both cases, we're seeing a loss of the forest's ability to absorb carbon,' she said. 'Instead, carbon is being released back into the atmosphere, along with the loss of forest cover.' The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
eNCA
26-05-2025
- Science
- eNCA
Invasive species cost trillions in damages: study
From river-clogging plants to disease-carrying insects, the direct economic cost of invasive species worldwide has averaged about $35 billion a year for decades, researchers said Monday. Since 1960, damage from non-native plants and animals expanding into new territory has cost society more than $2.2 trillion, 17 times higher than previous estimates, they reported in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. The accelerating spread of invasive species -- from mosquitoes to wild boar to tough-to-eradicate plants -- blights agriculture, spreads disease and drives the growing pace of species extinction. Earlier calculations based on highly incomplete data were already known to fall far short of reality. To piece together a more accurate picture, an international team of researchers led by Ismael Soto, a scientist at the University of South Bohemia in the Czech Republic, compiled data on 162 invasive species whose costs have been well documented in at least a handful of countries. They then modelled the economic impact for 78 other countries such as Bangladesh and Costa Rica, for which no data was previously available. "We expected an underestimation of invasion costs, but the magnitude was striking," Soto told AFP. Due mainly to high volumes of trade and travel, tens of thousands of animal and plant species have taken root, sometimes literally, far from their places of origin. Europe is by far the continent most affected by the phenomenon, followed by North America and Asia. "Plants were the most economically damaging group, both for damage and management," Soto said. "Cost hotspots include urban coastal areas, notably in Europe, eastern China, and the US." Animals can cause devastating damage too. Wild boar, for example, destroy crops, cornfields and vineyards, while mosquitoes -- with expanding ranges due to global warming -- impose direct costs to human health by spreading diseases such as dengue and malaria. Another example is Japanese knotweed, an invasive plant that is very common in Europe and requires costly eradication programmes. "Our study is based on only 162 species," Soto noted. "Our figure is probably still an underestimate of a wider problem, and therefore the real economic costs could be even higher."
Straits Times
26-05-2025
- Science
- Straits Times
Invasive species cost society over $2.8 trillion in damages, study shows
Farmers harvest corn in Jiayuguan, in China's Gansu province. Invasive wild hogs can cause agricultural damage to crops, cornfields and vineyards. PHOTO: REUTERS PARIS - From river-clogging plants to disease-carrying insects, the direct economic cost of invasive species worldwide has averaged about US$35 billion (S$45 billion) a year for decades, researchers said on May 26. Since 1960, damage from non-native plants and animals expanding into new territory has cost society more than US$2.2 trillion (S$2.8 trillion), 17 times higher than previous estimates, they reported in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. The accelerating spread of invasive species – from mosquitoes to wild boar to tough-to-eradicate plants – blights agriculture, spreads disease and drives the growing pace of species extinction. Earlier calculations based on highly incomplete data were already known to fall far short of reality. To piece together a more accurate picture, an international team of researchers led by Professor Ismael Soto, a scientist at the University of South Bohemia in the Czech Republic, compiled data on 162 invasive species whose costs have been well documented in at least a handful of countries. They then modelled the economic impact for 78 other countries such as Bangladesh and Costa Rica, for which no data was previously available. 'We expected an underestimation of invasion costs, but the magnitude was striking,' Prof Soto told AFP. Due mainly to high volumes of trade and travel, tens of thousands of animal and plant species have taken root, sometimes literally, far from their places of origin. Europe is by far the continent most affected by the phenomenon, followed by North America and Asia. 'Plants were the most economically damaging group, both for damage and management,' Prof Soto said. 'Cost hotspots include urban coastal areas, notably in Europe, eastern China, and the US.' Animals can cause devastating damage too. Wild boar, for example, destroy crops, cornfields and vineyards, while mosquitoes – with expanding ranges due to global warming – impose direct costs to human health by spreading diseases such as dengue and malaria. Another example is Japanese knotweed, an invasive plant that is very common in Europe and requires costly eradication programmes. 'Our study is based on only 162 species,' Prof Soto noted. 'Our figure is probably still an underestimate of a wider problem, and therefore the real economic costs could be even higher.' Using a broader definition – including indirect costs such as lost income – the UN's biodiversity expert group, IPBES, has calculated the total cost to society of invasive species at about US$400 billion annually. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Invasive species cost trillions in damages: study
From river-clogging plants to disease-carrying insects, the direct economic cost of invasive species worldwide has averaged about $35 billion a year for decades, researchers said Monday. Since 1960, damage from non-native plants and animals expanding into new territory has cost society more than $2.2 trillion, 17 times higher than previous estimates, they reported in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. The accelerating spread of invasive species -- from mosquitoes to wild boar to tough-to-eradicate plants -- blights agriculture, spreads disease and drives the growing pace of species extinction. Earlier calculations based on highly incomplete data were already known to fall far short of reality. To piece together a more accurate picture, an international team of researchers led by Ismael Soto, a scientist at the University of South Bohemia in the Czech Republic, compiled data on 162 invasive species whose costs have been well documented in at least a handful of countries. They then modelled the economic impact for 78 other countries such as Bangladesh and Costa Rica, for which no data was previously available. "We expected an underestimation of invasion costs, but the magnitude was striking," Soto told AFP. Due mainly to high volumes of trade and travel, tens of thousands of animal and plant species have taken root, sometimes literally, far from their places of origin. Europe is by far the continent most affected by the phenomenon, followed by North America and Asia. "Plants were the most economically damaging group, both for damage and management," Soto said. "Cost hotspots include urban coastal areas, notably in Europe, eastern China, and the US." Animals can cause devastating damage too. Wild boar, for example, destroy crops, cornfields and vineyards, while mosquitoes -- with expanding ranges due to global warming -- impose direct costs to human health by spreading diseases such as dengue and malaria. Another example is Japanese knotweed, an invasive plant that is very common in Europe and requires costly eradication programmes. "Our study is based on only 162 species," Soto noted. "Our figure is probably still an underestimate of a wider problem, and therefore the real economic costs could be even higher." Using a broader definition -- including indirect costs such as lost income -- the UN's biodiversity expert group, IPBES, has calculated the total cost to society of invasive species at about $400 billion annually. jmi/mh/klm/jhb
