Abstract:

Among invasive species， plants comprise the most diverse and numerous biological groups. Assessing the economic cost of invasive plants is an important part of risk management and is essential for the development of policies for control or eradication. In this study， based on the InvaCost database， we assessed the economic costs of global invasive plants from 1970 to 2017. The main results were as follows： 1） The conservative economic cost of invasive plants from 1970 to 2017 was 194.365 billion U.S. dollars （USD）， 4.049 billion USD per year on average， of which the direct economic loss amounted to 100.468 billion USD， accounting for 51.69% of the total. 2） Among 64 countries and regions， the United States has borne the highest economic costs， followed by Australia， and China ranks third with costs of 20.831 billion USD （equivalent to 140.707 billion RMB）. Notably， Eichhornia crassipes has been the most expensive invasive plant species globally， with the costs of its damage exceeding the combined costs of invasive plants ranking 5th to 10th. 3） Over the past five decades， the economic cost of invasive plants has shown an upward trend. Model estimates suggest that the possible cost of invasive plants in 2017 ranged from 3.438 billion to 10.452 billion USD， with the highest confidence value being 7.725 billion USD. The results of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of the severity of invasive plant threats and provide a scientific basis for more proactive invasive plant management in China.

Key words: invasive plants, economic cost, InvaCost database, biological disaster loss assessment