Economic costs of biological invasions in protected areas worldwide - where do we stand?

Biological invasions are one of the main threats to biodiversity within protected areas (PAs) worldwide. Meanwhile, the resilience of PAs along with their capacity to mitigate impacts from invasions remains largely unknown. Filling this knowledge gap is therefore critical for informing policy responses and optimally allocating resources invested in prevention and control strategies. Here we use the InvaCost database to address this gap from three perspectives: (i) characterizing the total cost of invasive alien species (IAS) in PAs; (ii) examining differences in mean observed costs of IAS between PAs and non-PAs; and (iii) evaluating factors affecting mean observed costs of IAS in PAs. Our results show that reported economic costs of IAS in PAs amounted to US$ 22.13 billion between 1976 and 2020, of which US$ 802.47 million were observed costs (incurred) and US$ 21.18 billion were potential costs (expected). The highest observed total costs were reported for Africa and South America; mainly caused by mammals, plants and insects; and predominantly impacted the finances of government agencies. Most of the observed total costs were reported for management (69%) versus damage (27%), however, the vast majority of management costs were reported for post-invasion actions (US$ 453 million; focused on control and eradication). PAs incurred on average higher costs than non-PAs, however, this was dependent on the environment and the continent. When analyzing costs of IAS within PAs, observed mean costs significantly differed with the environment (higher in terrestrial environments), continent (higher in Pacific islands), taxon (higher for vertebrates and invertebrates than in plants) and the human development index (developed countries incur higher costs). Managers of selected PAs surveyed acknowledged IAS as the most threatening factor, concurred on the necessity of reporting costs in PAs, and pointed to insufficient budget allocation for pre-invasion actions. Our findings highlight the need for a deeper understanding of the economic costs caused by invasions across PAs, direct driving factors and management challenges