Open access publications in the SLU publication database

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present and document calculations of total costs of 13 different alien invasive species (AIS) in Sweden classified into four different categories; aquatic (bay barnacle, furuncolosis, yellow floating heart, signal crayfish), biodiversity (Iberian slug, Japanese rose, min, giant hogweed), health (mugwort and ragweed, HIV and AIDS, giant hogweed), and others (Dutch elm disease, rodents). All included species are subjected to control of Swedish public authorities and estimates for most AIS include either damage cost or control cost. The results indicate a total annual cost ranging between 1590 and 5068 millions of SEK, which corresponds to approximately SEK 175 and SEK 565 per capita in Sweden. However, data availability and quality differ for the species, in particular with respect to quantification of invasive alien species impacts. The results indicate that the relatively most reliable estimates are related to human and animal health impacts, and that the costs of impacts on biodiversity are the least reliable estimates. .