Coordinated species importation policies are needed to reduce serious invasions globally: The case of alien bumblebees in South America

AIZEN, MARCELO A.; SMITH-RAMÍREZ, CECILIA; MORALES, CAROLINA L.; VIELI, LORENA; SÁEZ, AGUSTÍN; BARAHONA-SEGOVIA, RODRIGO M.; ARBETMAN, MARINA P.; MONTALVA, JOSÉ; GARIBALDI, LUCAS A.; INOUYE, DAVID W.; HARDER, LAWRENCE D.

JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2019 vol. 56 p. 100 - 106

0021-8901

1. The global trade of species promotes diverse human activities but also facilitatesthe introduction of potentially invasive species into new environments. As speciesignore national boundaries, unilateral national decisions concerning species tradeset the stage for transnational species invasion with significant conservation,economicand political consequences.2. The need for a coordinated approach to species importation policies is demonstratedby the introduction of two bumblebee species into Chile for crop pollination,despite Argentina banning commercial importation of alien bumblebeesbased on expert opinion. The large garden bumblebee, Bombus ruderatus, was firstintroduced in 1982, and the buff-tailed bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, has beencontinually introduced since 1997 as part of the burgeoning bumblebee trade.Both species have subsequently invaded southern South America. Today, the consequencesof the growth of the bumblebee trade for agricultural pollination ranksamong the top 15 emerging environmental issues likely to affect global diversity.3. Documented impacts of these invasions include the severe decline and local extinctionsof the sole native Patagonian bumblebee, Bombus dahlbomii, pathogentransmission, flower damage and nectar robbing of native and cultivated plants.4. Policy implications. The South American bumblebee invasions portrayed hereshould alert governments to the unintended consequences of the booming internationalbee trade. More broadly, this case demonstrates that one country?s importationdecisions can have policy implications for its neighbours withoutconsultation. Regrettably, coordinated international measures to prevent speciesinvasions are seldom considered in South America or elsewhere, despite existinglegal frameworks. The bumblebee case and others provide stark evidence of the pressing need for coordinated specific and general international policies concerningglobal species trade and their implementation.