Dealing with non-native species: what makes the difference in South America?

SPEZIALE, K. L.; LAMBERTUCCI, S. A.; CARRETE, M; TELLA J. L.

BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS

SPRINGER

Año: 2012 vol. 14 p. 1609 - 1621

1387-3547

Non-native species have reached South 9 American ecosystems and may be threatening the 10 exceptional biodiversity of this region. However, 11 people often value and exploit introduced species not 12 knowing that they are non-natives, nor understanding 13 their impacts. In this paper we analyze the trend of 14 scientific research on introduced species in South 15 America and whether a socio-cultural explanation 16 could underlie the results by comparing them with 17 European, North American and Australasian countries. 18 We also controlled for research effort, which could 19 reflect economic inequalities, by analyzing the articles 20 published on introduced species in relation to the total 21 number of articles published on related disciplines. 22 Research trends suggest that non-native species are not 23 of major concern for South American countries, there being less research on this topic in countrieswith higher 24 biodiversity. Compared to other colonized countries 25 such as the USA, New Zealand and Australia, research 26 on non-native species was lagging and less abundant in 27 South America, even when controlling for research 28 effort. Historical and recent socio-cultural particular- 29 ities may explain the similar attitudes and research 30 input seen in South American countries and their 31 Spanish and Portuguese colonizers. A generational 32 amnesia, where younger generations descendent from 33 European colonizers are not aware of past biological 34 conditions, could be exacerbating this lack of concern. 35 SouthAmerican policies seemto reflect the lowlevel of 36 interest in non-native species shown by their citizens. 37 National policies are poorly developed andmainly deal 38 with alien species threatening productive systems. 39 Given the strong cultural component of this dilemma, 40 integrated ways to reverse this situation are needed, 41 including education, international research collabora- 42 tion, and a common South American policy.