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01:50Threats to Biodiversity
There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...
02:31Habitat Fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation describes the division of a more extensive, continuous habitat into smaller, discontinuous areas. Human activities such as land conversion, as well as slower geological processes leading to changes in the physical environment, are the two leading causes of habitat fragmentation. The fragmentation process typically follows the same steps: perforation, dissection, fragmentation, shrinkage, and attrition.
01:17Hypothesis: Accept or Fail to Reject?
The outcome of any hypothesis testing leads to rejecting or not rejecting the null hypothesis. This decision is taken based on the analysis of the data, an appropriate test statistic, an appropriate confidence level, the critical values, and P-values. However, when the evidence suggests that the null hypothesis cannot be rejected, is it right to say, 'Accept' the null hypothesis?
There are two ways to indicate that the null hypothesis is not rejected. 'Accept' the null hypothesis and 'fail to...
There are two ways to indicate that the null hypothesis is not rejected. 'Accept' the null hypothesis and 'fail to...
00:59Uncertainty: Overview
In analytical chemistry, we often perform repetitive measurements to detect and minimize inaccuracies caused by both determinate and indeterminate errors. Despite the cares we take, the presence of random errors means that repeated measurements almost never have exactly the same magnitude. The collective difference between these measurements - observed values - and the estimated or expected value is called uncertainty. Uncertainty is conventionally written after the estimated or expected value.
01:17What is a Species?
Overview
00:53Migration
Migration is long-range, seasonal movement from one region or habitat to another. This common strategy, carried out by many different organisms around the world, is an adaptive response that typically corresponds to changes in an organism’s environment, like resource availability or climate. Migrations can involve huge groups of thousands of animals as well as single individuals traveling alone and can range from thousands of kilometers to just a few hundred meters.
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Published on: July 11, 2025
Uncertainty in invasive alien species listing.
Melodie A McGeoch1, Dian Spear, Elizabeth J Kleynhans
1Cape Research Centre, South African National Parks, P.O. Box 216, Steenberg 7947, South Africa. melodiemcgeoch@gmail.com
Summary
Errors in invasive alien species (IAS) lists can lead to underestimations of IAS numbers. Understanding and addressing these listing errors is crucial for effective biodiversity conservation and biosecurity management.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Conservation Biology
- Environmental Management
Background:
- Lists of invasive alien species (IAS) are critical tools for managing biological invasions.
- Existing IAS lists contain various errors that compromise their scientific and policy applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To classify and quantify errors in IAS listing.
- To improve the understanding, communication, and management of these errors.
Main Methods:
- Collated and classified IAS listing errors using a taxonomy of uncertainty.
- Estimated the magnitude of these errors using data from a completed listing exercise.
Main Results:
- Identified ten distinct errors, primarily stemming from epistemic uncertainty (lack of knowledge/measurement error) and linguistic uncertainty (vagueness/context dependence).
- Substantial error effects were observed, often leading to underestimation of IAS numbers, with some effects remaining poorly understood.
- Specialist disagreement can significantly impact IAS lists, especially in data-poor situations, without a consistent directional effect.
Conclusions:
- Five key tactics were identified to reduce uncertainty in IAS lists, enhancing transparency, repeatability, and comparability.
- Addressing listing errors and uncertainties is vital for improving the utility of IAS lists for conservation and biosecurity.
- Improved understanding of IAS listing errors is increasingly important due to rising biological invasion trends and associated risks.