Pet Trade and Invasive Animals

Full Title

Linking trade, biology and pet owner decisions to the risk of vertebrate invasions in the U.S.

Abstract

Hundreds of millions of exotic pets are sold legally in markets worldwide. As this market grows, so too does the risk that it results in vertebrate invasions, often from species originally imported as household and aquarium pets. Invasive vertebrates are known to cause substantial economic and ecological harm, yet the links between pet trade volume and the introduction of invasive vertebrates are not well known. This Pursuit will explore the risk of vertebrate invasions from the exotic pet trade in the US by synthesizing existing data on vertebrate species import volume with data on the US pet trade. As a tool to aid in policy formulation, participants will also synthesize existing quantitative models that link exotic pet trade volume to invasion risk so that these models better capture the role of human behavior, economics, and population biology.

Project Type
Team Synthesis Project
Date
2016
Principal Investigators
Julie Lockwood, Rutgers University
Christana Romagosa, University of Florida
Participants
Andrew Rhyne, Roger Williams University
Michael Tlusty, New England Aquarium
Brian Leung, McGill University
Reuben Keller, Loyola University
Phillip Cassey, University of Adelaide
Nick Mandrak, University of Toronto
Michael Springborn, University of California-Davis
Brad Udell, University of Florida
Oliver Stringham, Rutgers University
Elizabeth Pienaar, University of Florida
Angela Strecker, Portland State University
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