Consistency of impact assessment protocols for non-native species

González-Moreno, Pablo; Lazzaro, Lorenzo; Vilà, Montserrat; Preda, Cristina; Adriaens, Tim; Bacher, Sven; Brundu, Giuseppe; Copp, Gordon H.; Essl, Franz; García-Berthou, Emili; Katsanevakis, Stelios; Moen, Toril Loennechen; Lucy, Frances E.; Nentwig, Wolfgang; Roy, Helen E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6050-679X; Srėbalienė, Greta; Talgø, Venche; Vanderhoeven, Sonia; Andjelković, Ana; Arbačiauskas, Kęstutis; Auger-Rozenberg, Marie-Anne; Bae, Mi-Jung; Bariche, Michel; Boets, Pieter; Boieiro, Mário; Borges, Paulo Alexandre; Canning-Clode, João; Cardigos, Federico; Chartosia, Niki; Cottier-Cook, Elizabeth Joanne; Crocetta, Fabio; D'hondt, Bram; Foggi, Bruno; Follak, Swen; Gallardo, Belinda; Gammelmo, Øivind; Giakoumi, Sylvaine; Giuliani, Claudia; Fried, Guillaume; Jelaska, Lucija Šerić; Jeschke, Jonathan M.; Jover, Miquel; Juárez-Escario, Alejandro; Kalogirou, Stefanos; Kočić, Aleksandra; Kytinou, Eleni; Laverty, Ciaran; Lozano, Vanessa; Maceda-Veiga, Alberto; Marchante, Elizabete; Marchante, Hélia; Martinou, Angeliki F.; Meyer, Sandro; Minchin, Dan; Montero-Castaño, Ana; Morais, Maria Cristina; Morales-Rodriguez, Carmen; Muhthassim, Naida; Nagy, Zoltán Á.; Ogris, Nikica; Onen, Huseyin; Pergl, Jan; Puntila, Riikka; Rabitsch, Wolfgang; Ramburn, Triya Tessa; Rego, Carla; Reichenbach, Fabian; Romeralo, Carmen; Saul, Wolf-Christian; Schrader, Gritta; Sheehan, Rory; Simonović, Predrag; Skolka, Marius; Soares, António Onofre; Sundheim, Leif; Tarkan, Ali Serhan; Tomov, Rumen; Tricarico, Elena; Tsiamis, Konstantinos; Uludağ, Ahmet; van Valkenburg, Johan; Verreycken, Hugo; Vettraino, Anna Maria; Vilar, Lluís; Wiig, Øystein; Witzell, Johanna; Zanetta, Andrea; Kenis, Marc. 2019 Consistency of impact assessment protocols for non-native species. NeoBiota, 44. 1-25. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.44.31650

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Abstract/Summary

Standardized tools are needed to identify and prioritize the most harmful non-native species (NNS). A plethora of assessment protocols have been developed to evaluate the current and potential impacts of non-native species, but consistency among them has received limited attention. To estimate the consistency across impact assessment protocols, 89 specialists in biological invasions used 11 protocols to screen 57 NNS (2614 assessments). We tested if the consistency in the impact scoring across assessors, quantified as the coefficient of variation (CV), was dependent on the characteristics of the protocol, the taxonomic group and the expertise of the assessor. Mean CV across assessors was 40%, with a maximum of 223%. CV was lower for protocols with a low number of score levels, which demanded high levels of expertise, and when the assessors had greater expertise on the assessed species. The similarity among protocols with respect to the final scores was higher when the protocols considered the same impact types. We conclude that all protocols led to considerable inconsistency among assessors. In order to improve consistency, we highlight the importance of selecting assessors with high expertise, providing clear guidelines and adequate training but also deriving final decisions collaboratively by consensus.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.44.31650
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Biodiversity (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	1619-0033
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	environmental impact, expert judgement, invasive alien species policy, management prioritization, risk assessment, socio-economic impact
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment
Date made live:	25 Apr 2019 13:15 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/523068

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