Abstract:

A report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences claims that invasive insects and pathogens could become a multi-billion dollar problem to agriculture, especially delivering devastation in developing countries.

The researchers analyzed the impact of known invasive insect pests and pathogens on 124 countries and determined which counties posed the biggest threats based on their trading partners and numbers of invasive species.

The results show the United States, China, India and Brazil, all large agricultural producers, would have the highest potential cost from invasive species. China and the United States ranked one and two, respectively, as the highest potential source countries for the pests. While big agricultural countries, such as the United States and China, may take the biggest monetary hit, smaller developing countries may suffer proportionately higher damage.

To estimate the relative cost of species invasion, the researchers divided a country's total invasion cost by its mean domestic product from 2000 to 2009. As trade increases and more connections are made between countries, the researchers suggest that the problems associated with invasive species will mount.