Risk assessment in practice: Insights into invasive species risk assessments from a survey of users

ARPHA Preprints, doi: 10.3897/arphapreprints.e153054

Susan Canavan^‡, Kim Canavan^§, Sabrina Kumschick^|¶, Doria R Gordon^#, John RU Wilson^¤, Deah Lieurance^«

‡ School of Natural Sciences, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe—University of Galway, Galway, Ireland, Galway, Ireland§ Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa| Stellenbosch University, Matieland, South Africa¶ Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa# Environmental Defence Fund, New York, NY, USA; Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA, New York, United States of America¤ Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa; Kirstenbosch Research Centre, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Cape Town, South Africa, Stellenbosch, South Africa« Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, United States of America

Corresponding author: Susan Canavan ( sucanavan@gmail.com )

This is an open access preprint distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Citation: Canavan S, Canavan K, Kumschick S, Gordon DR, Wilson JR, Lieurance D (2025) Risk assessment in practice: Insights into invasive species risk assessments from a survey of users. ARPHA Preprints. https://doi.org/10.3897/arphapreprints.e153054

Abstract

Risk assessment is an important tool in invasive species prevention and management, providing a structured approach to identify and evaluate the risks posed by non-native species. Despite the widespread development of risk assessment methods, there is a lack of information on which methods are used in practice. We conducted a global survey of risk assessment practitioners from diverse regional, professional, and taxonomic contexts to identify the tools and databases used, the qualifications and experience of assessors, and the implementation and accessibility of risk assessment results. 107 responses were received from practitioners focussed on all continents except Antarctica, with the most from the United States and the United Kingdom. Respondents reported using more than 46 different RA tools, with the Fish Invasiveness Screening Kit and the USDA Plant Protection and Quarantine Weed Risk Assessment the most commonly mentioned, though geographic sampling bias likely influenced this result. Assessments predominantly focused on plants and terrestrial species, though representation from all taxonomic groups and systems exist. Respondents listed 143 generally open-access databases that they frequently use to conduct risk assessments, with the most commonly used sources being the CABI Invasive Species Compendium, occurrence records from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), and taxonomic information from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). Assessors typically had tertiary education, with the majority holding at least a master's degree, though most did not believe that graduate education is necessary to be an effective assessor. After risk assessments were completed, assessments were predominantly reported to government agencies. Most finalized risk assessments included some measure of certainty and were usually accessible to the public, with few including public comment. There is strong support for training or certification programs to standardize qualifications for assessors, as indicated by the majority of respondents. Based on the views expressed in the surveys we discuss the importance of: (1) training and capacity building, (2) open access databases and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) data, (3) incorporating stakeholders and the public in the process, and (4) standardisation of tools; if these measures are implemented, they may enhance the consistency, transparency, and effectiveness of risk assessments of non-native species.

Keywords

Biosecurity, weed risk assessment, impacts, CABI, GBIF, ITIS, FAIR, Invasiveness Screening Kit, non-native, alien species