Methods for Prioritizing Invasive Plants in Protected Areas: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Invasive species are recognized as one of the biggest threats to biodiversity and dealing with them is a daunting challenge for protected area managers. Prioritization based on multiple criteria has been traditionally recommended as essential for the effective management of invasive species. A systematic literature review was undertaken to assess to what extent the scientific literature provides guidelines for implementing priority systems as part of management strategies for invasive plants in protected areas. We detected only 27 studies published up to 2019 reporting some kind of prioritization. Most of them were limited to a list of species built from a combination of biological information extracted from literature and data on the extent and effects of their presence in the area. Our review also revealed that risk analysis has been commonly confounded with prioritization tools. Despite the generalized recognition of the impact of invasive plants on biodiversity, managers of protected areas lack readily applicable support from scientific literature to set up prioritization schemes.