Economic loss of ecosystem services caused by yellow flag iris and white ginger lily, two invasive alien plants in natural ecosystems of Argentina

Abstract

Invasive alien plants are responsible not only for the loss of biodiversity, but also for causing direct and indirectdamage to productive activities. Iris pseudacorus L. (Iridaceae) and Hedychium coronarium J. Koenig (Zingiberales:Zingiberaceae) are currently invading different biomes of Argentina. This work estimates the economic loss ofecosystem services due to such invasion processes, using value transfer methodology for their current distribution.We determined the affectation degree for different ecosystem services (pollination, biological control,habitat refugia, regulation of water flows, erosion prevention, genetic diversity and cognitive information) infour biomes (coastal systems, inland wetlands, freshwater lakes and rivers and tropical forest) where theseinvasive alien plants are present. We found a current estimated loss of ecosystem services value that ranges fromUSD 697 to USD 5,300 million and USD 44 to USD 215 million per year for I. pseudacorus and H. coronariumrespectively, using ecological niche model suitability values above 0.8 and 0.6. Given this, we encourage thateconomic losses in ecosystem service values due to invasive plants be estimated more often and incorporated intothe decision-making process to prioritize weed management strategies, including biological control.