Achievement

A March 2012 paper in the journal Ecosystems by researchers from the University of Notre Dame, the University of Wyoming and the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands assigns a dollar figure on the cost to the Great Lakes from invasive species that originate in the ballast water of ocean-going vessels. The researchers used structured expert judgment and economic analysis to determine that the median estimate of damages is $138 million annually but could be more than $800 million annually. They note that the economic analyses employed in their estimate of damages are far more accurate than previous attempts at calculating the damages caused by invasions, yet are probably underestimates for the U.S. side of the Great Lakes basin. According to the research team that includes GLOBES-IGERT Co-PI David Lodge, the estimates provide dollar benchmarks that could be used to evaluate the benefits of policy and management choices to reduce the probability of future invasions.