The latest scientific discoveries in haiku form – sciku!
Aliens spreading,
their invasion continues.
No saturation.
Increased globalisation over the past 200 years has helped to spread flora and fauna species around the world, with some non-native species disrupting local habitats to a devastating degree. Despite efforts to mitigate such invasions, the rate of alien species establishment appears to be increasing and no saturation point has been observed. Seebens et al, 2017.
How safe the trader?
The agricultural costs
of invasive pests
Invasive pest species threaten global agriculture and can devastate crops. A study of almost 1,300 agricultural invasive species and 124 countries suggests that whilst the biggest agricultural producers (USA and China) “could experience the greatest absolute costs from further species invasion”, their trade patterns mean they are also the greatest potential source of invasive species and so represent the greatest threat to the rest of the world. In contrast, the countries most vulnerable to invasive species were found to be from Sub-Saharan Africa. Paini et al, 2017.