Annie Simpson, MA, MS (Former Employee)

Information on invasive alien species from published and unpublished accounts and databases is usually scattered in locations and formats that are not easily accessible. Customized informatics tools for collecting and organizing invasive species information can help resource managers better control biological invasions. The Invasives Information Network (I3N) of the Inter-American...

Land managers must meet the invasive species challenge every day, starting with identification of problem species, then the collection of best practices for their control, and finally the implementation of a plan to remove the problem. At each step of the process, the availability of reliable information is essential to success. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed a suite of...

The Policy Forum “Will threat of biological invasions unite the European Union?” (P. E. Hulme et al., 3 April, p. 40) emphasized the major regulatory and political challenges faced by European institutions. However, they are not alone in facing the tremendous threat of biological invasions; this is a global challenge with infrastructure needs described nearly a decade ago (1). Hulme et...

Accurate analysis of present distributions and effective modeling of future distributions of invasive alien species (IAS) are both highly dependent on the availability and accessibility of occurrence data and natural history information about the species. Invasive alien species monitoring and detection networks (such as the Invasive Plant Atlas of New England and the Invasive Plant Atlas...

Although the quantity of data on the location, status, and management of invasive species is ever increasing, invasive species data sets are often difficult to obtain and integrate. A cyberinfrastructure for such information could make these data available for Internet users. The data can be used to create regional watch lists, to send e-mail alerts when a new species enters a region, to...

In order to be effective, information must be placed in the proper context and organized in a manner that is logical and (preferably) standardized. Recently, invasive alien species (IAS) scientists have begun to create online networks to share their information concerning IAS prevention and control. At a special networking session at the Beijing International Symposium on Biological...