The Global Invasive Species Information Network: What's in It for You?

—probably the most widely cited scientific study on invasive species in recent years—calculated the annual costof invasive species in the United Statesalone at $138 billion per year (Pimentelet al. 2000). The total annual cost of in-vasive species to human societies world-wide can therefore be estimated to bein the hundreds of billions of dollars,including the costs of control, detri-mental effects on human health, andlosses in agricultural production andecosystem services.This enormous sumfar exceeds the combined annual cost ofall natural disasters (Munich Re Group2004), making the problem of invasivespecies in both agricultural and naturalecosystems a high-priority issue. Butthere is hope for counteracting the in-vasive species challenge, and much ofthat hope stems from new strategies be-ing developed for managing informa-tion about invasive species and theireffects.