Biodiv Sci ›› 2002, Vol. 10 ›› Issue (1): 119-125.  DOI: 10.17520/biods.2002014

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Alien invasive species in China: their damages and management strategies

WAN Fang-Hao, GUO Jian-Ying, WANG De-Hui   

  1. 1 Institute of Biological Control , Chinese Academy of Agricul tural Sciences , Beijing 100081
    2 Department of Nature Conservation , State Environmental Protection Administ ration , Beijing 100035
  • Online:2002-02-20 Published:2002-02-20
  • Contact: WAN FangHao

Abstract: The impacts and invasion method of alien invasive species (AIS), and prevention and management of biological invasion are discussed. Biological invasion is becoming one of the most important factors threatening biodiversity and stability of various ecological systems in China. The impacts of these biological invasions are becoming a more serious problems with development and increase of global trade, transportation, international travel and ecological tourism. Harmful AIS often leads to irreversible species extinction, and results in substantial economic losses within managed and natural ecosystems, including agriculture, forestry, fishery and animal production. Newly invading weeds, insect pests and plant diseases frequently result in large scale outbreaks and persistent use of chemical pesticides. Successful invasion and spread of some major insect pests and weeds in China were caused by man made factors. These include decision mistakes and unintentional introduction of some plants, such as water hyacinth and alligator weed as pig food, irresponsible introduction actions taken by individual/group without any ecological concerns, and lack of rapid response mechanism for eradicating potentially AIS as soon as they appear. China is an agricultural country. Any biological invasion will be a "big bomb" for our agriculture and inevitably result in ecological and economic losses in specific ecosystem and specific geographic regions. Prevention of biological invasion is an important aspect for safeguarding the state′s ecological safety. Development and researches should focus on building the state capacity, research capacity, and management capacity for addressing AIS problem. Based on the urgent situation of AIS in China, priority for research and action plans concentrate on: developing methods to identify the origin and pathways of invasive population; understanding the biological and ecological bases of AIS; developing environmentally friendly methods for control of AIS; developing environmental impact assessment and risk analysis methods for AIS; and developing methods for the recovery of habitats after control of AIS.

Key words: plant male sterility, diversity, cause, group, induction, application