Consistency of impact assessment protocols for non-native species

González-Moreno, Pablo; Lazzaro, Lorenzo; Vilà, Montserrat (Vilà Planella); Preda, Cristina; Adriaens, Tim; Bacher, Sven; Brundu, G.; Copp, Gordon H.; Essl, Franz; García-Berthou, Emili; Katsanevakis, Stelios; Moen, Toril Loennechen; Lucy, Frances E.; Nentwig, Wolfgang; Roy, Helen E.; Srėbalienė, Greta; Talgø, Venche; Vanderhoeven, Sonia; Andjelković, Ana; Arbačiauskas,Kęstutis; Auger-Rozenberg,Marie-Anne; Bae, Mi-Jung; Bariche, Michel; Boets, Pieter; Boieiro, Mário; Borges, Paulo Alexandre; Canning-Clode, João; Cardigos, Federico; Chartosia, Niki; Cottier-Cook, Elizabeth Joanne; Crocetta, Fabio; D'Hondt, Bram; Foggi, Bruno; Follak, Swen; Gallardo, Belinda; Gammelmo, Øivind; Giakoumi, Sylvaine; Giuliani, Claudia; Fried, Guillaume; Juárez Escario, Alejandro

doi:https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.44.31650

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Issue date

2019-04-01

Author

González-Moreno, Pablo

Lazzaro, Lorenzo

Vilà, Montserrat (Vilà Planella)

Preda, Cristina

Adriaens, Tim

Bacher, Sven

Brundu, G.

Copp, Gordon H.

Essl, Franz

García-Berthou, Emili

Katsanevakis, Stelios

Moen, Toril Loennechen

Lucy, Frances E.

Nentwig, Wolfgang

Roy, Helen E.

Srėbalienė, Greta

Talgø, Venche

Vanderhoeven, Sonia

Andjelković, Ana

Arbačiauskas,Kęstutis

Auger-Rozenberg,Marie-Anne

Bae, Mi-Jung

Bariche, Michel

Boets, Pieter

Boieiro, Mário

Borges, Paulo Alexandre

Canning-Clode, João

Cardigos, Federico

Chartosia, Niki

Cottier-Cook, Elizabeth Joanne

Crocetta, Fabio

D'Hondt, Bram

Foggi, Bruno

Follak, Swen

Gallardo, Belinda

Gammelmo, Øivind

Giakoumi, Sylvaine

Giuliani, Claudia

Fried, Guillaume

Juárez Escario, Alejandro

Suggested citation

González-Moreno, Pablo; Lazzaro, Lorenzo; Vilà, Montserrat (Vilà Planella); Preda, Cristina; Adriaens, Tim; Bacher, Sven; ... Juárez Escario, Alejandro. (2019) . Consistency of impact assessment protocols for non-native species. Neobiota, 2019, num. 44, p. 1-25. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.44.31650.

Abstract

Standardized tools are needed to identify and prioritize the most harmful non-native species (NNS). A plethora of assessment protocols have been developed to evaluate the current and potential impacts of non-native species, but consistency among them has received limited attention. To estimate the consistency

across impact assessment protocols, 89 specialists in biological invasions used 11 protocols to screen 57 NNS (2614 assessments). We tested if the consistency in the impact scoring across assessors, quantified as the coefficient of variation (CV), was dependent on the characteristics of the protocol, the taxonomic group and the expertise of the assessor. Mean CV across assessors was 40%, with a maximum of 223%. CV was lower for protocols with a low number of score levels, which demanded high levels of expertise, and when the assessors had greater expertise on the assessed species. The similarity among protocols with respect to the final scores was higher when the protocols considered the same impact types. We conclude that all protocols led to considerable inconsistency among assessors. In order to improve consistency, we highlight the importance of selecting assessors with high expertise, providing clear guidelines and adequate training but also deriving final decisions collaboratively by consensus.

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/66383

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.44.31650

Is part of

Neobiota, 2019, num. 44, p. 1-25

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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as cc-by (c) González-Moreno et al., 2019