A cost-benefit approach for prioritizing invasive species

Biological invasions entail massive biodiversity losses and tremendouseconomic impacts that justify significant management efforts. Because thefunds available to control biological invasions are limited, there is a need toidentify priority species. This paper first review current invasive species pri-oritization methods and explicitly highlights their pitfalls. We then constructa cost-benefit optimization framework that incorporates species utility, eco-logical value, distinctiveness, and species interactions. This framework offersthe theoretical foundations of a simple and operational method for the man-agement of invasive species under a limited budget constraint. It takes theform of an algorithm for the prioritization of multiple biological invasions.