Digital Commons Network^™

Invasive Species Risk Assessments Need More Consistent Spatial Abundance Data, Bethany A. Bradley, Jenica M. Allen, Mitchell W. O'Neill, Rebekah D. Wallace, Charles T. Bargeron, Julie A. Richburg, Kristina Stinson

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Spatial abundance information is a critical component of invasive plant risk assessment. While spatial occurrence data provide important information about potential establishment, abundance data are necessary to understand invasive species’ populations, which ultimately drive environmental and economic impacts. In recent years, the collective efforts of numerous management agencies and public participants have created unprecedented spatial archives of invasive plant occurrence, but consistent information about abundance remains rare. Here, we develop guidelines for the collection and reporting of abundance information that can add value to existing data collection efforts and inform spatial ecology research. In order to identify the most common …