Announcing a special issue on the human and social dimensions of invasive species masterfully coordinated by Ross Shackleton, who came to Lausanne as a post-doctoral scholar funded by the Swiss Government’s Excellence Scholarship, and has prolonged his stay with a lecturer contract. The special issue, published in the Journal of Environmental Management, includes three review papers and thirteen case studies – see the Table of Contents below. In our editorial paper, we review advances in the four main ways people interact with invasive species:
- causing or facilitating invasions
- thinking and feeling about invasions
- being affected by invasions, for better or for worse
- getting together to manage invasions
We titled the issue both ‘social’ and ‘human’ dimensions after a lively discussion. By ‘human and social dimensions’ we are referring to a broad suite of interactions that people have with invasive alien species. We retain both keywords, for they are interlinked and are frequently used in both broader and narrow senses. In the broader sense, they are casually used as synonyms for all-that-is-not-natural science (e.g. human dimensions of global change [e.g., the IHDP], social dimensions of climate change [e.g. Unesco]). McNeely (2001) uses ‘human dimensions of invasive species’ in the broad sense, while Head (2017) goes with ‘social dimensions of invasive plants’. (One might hypothesize that natural scientists feel more comfortable with ‘human’ whereas social scientists and humanities scholars may prefer ‘social’). In their narrow senses, the ‘human’ emphasizes more individual cognition and perceptions, whereas the ‘social’ emphasizes the societal context – from politics and economics to social interactions and discursive frames – within which people act. This special issue addresses both of these senses.
Below is a list of the articles in the special issue, and links to them. Congratulations to Ross on leading this impressive effort, and thanks to the other co-editors of the special issue Dave Richardson, Ana Novoa, and Brendon Larson.
Special Issue Contents
Online website for Volume 229 of the Journal of Environmental Management
Editorial introduction:
The human and social dimensions of invasion science and management (RT Shackleton, BMH Larson, A Novoa, DM Richardson, C Kull) pdf
Review papers:
The role of invasive alien species in shaping local livelihoods and human well-being (RT Shackleton, CM Shackleton, CA Kull) pdf
Stakeholder engagement in the study and management of invasive alien species: A review. (RT Shackleton, T Adriaens, G Brundu, K Dehnen-Schmutz, R Estevez, J Fried, BMH Larson, S Lui, E Marchante, H Marchante, M Moshobane, A Novoa, M Reed, DM Richardson) pdf
Explaining people’s perceptons of invasive alien species: A conceptual framework (RT Shackleton, DM Richardson, CMShackleton, B Bennet, S Crowley, K Dehnen-Schmutz, R Estévez, A Fisher, C Kuefer, CA Kull, E Marchante, A Novoa, LJ Potgieter, J Vaas, AS Vaz, BMH Larson) pdf
Case studies:
Exploring the dynamics of research collaboratons by mapping social networks in invasion science (B Abrahams, N Sitas, KJ Esler)
Aboriginal approaches to weed control in Kimberly, Western Australia (TM Bach, CA Kull, H Rangan) pdf
Perceptons of invasive alien plants in South Africa: Historicising the national framework (BM Bennet, L van Sitert)
Do people care about pine invasions? Visitor perceptons and willingness to pay for pine control in a protected area (V Bravo-Vargas, RA Garcia, JC Pizarro, A Pauchard)
Risk of invasive species spread by recreatonal boaters remains high despite widespread adopton of conservaton behaviours (E Cole, RP Keller, K Garbach)
Divergent perceptons of the “neo-Australian” forests of lowland eastern Madagascar: invasions, transitions, and livelihoods (CA Kull, SL Harimanana, A Radaniela Andrianoro, LG Rajoelison) pdf
Livelihood benefts and costs of an invasive alien tree (Acacia dealbata) to rural communites in the Eastern cape, South Africa. (A Ngorima, CM Shackleton)
Involving volunteers in ratonalised nature conservaton: challenges and opportunites in the case of non-natve species management in Great Britain. (M Pagès, R van der Wal, X Lambin, A Fischer)
Perceptions of impact: invasive alien plants in the urban environment (LPotgieter, M Gaertner, PJ O’Farrell, DM Richardson)
Community percepton and prioritzaton of invasive alien plants in Chitwan-Annapurna Landscape, Nepal (BB Shrestha, UB Shrestha, KP Sharma, RB Thapaparajuli, A Devkota, MJ Siwakot)
From useful to invasive, the status of gorse on Reunion Island (N Udo, C Darrot, AJ Atlan)
When free-ranging dogs threaten wildlife: public attudes toward management strategies in southern Chile (FJ Villatoro, L Naughton-Treves, M Sepúlveda, P Stowhas, F Mardones, EA Silva-Rodríguez)
The role of trust in public attudes towards invasive species management on Guam: A case study. (DM Wald, KA Nelson, AM Gawel, HS Rogers)
Christian Kull 