TY - JOUR
T1 - Historical, Ethical, and (Extra)legal Perspectives on Culpability in Accidental Species Introductions
AU - Perry, Gad
AU - Curzer, Howard
AU - Farmer, Michael
AU - Gore, Meredith L.
AU - Simberloff, Daniel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/1/1
Y1 - 2020/1/1
N2 - Some nonnative species benefit humans, but many become invasive, with high economic, cultural, and ecological costs. Although many introductions are considered accidental, inadvertent, or unintentional, this terminology often cannot be justified. Prevention policies have been proposed or implemented, and a diversity of proven control methods is available, but invasion problems grow, largely because feasible policy and management approaches are not implemented. The lack of action reflects willful myopia, a decision not to act because of negligence by policymakers, managers, and individuals. We explore the multidimensional ethical implications of this view and propose a continuum of ethical hazard. We relate the ethical dimensions to legal aspects of culpability and suggest a possible cutoff for legal liability. Finally, we identify four components of a desired policy response: It must ensure legal authority for action, base policy response on market forces, assure that more than simplistic economic considerations underpin decisions, and better engage the public.
AB - Some nonnative species benefit humans, but many become invasive, with high economic, cultural, and ecological costs. Although many introductions are considered accidental, inadvertent, or unintentional, this terminology often cannot be justified. Prevention policies have been proposed or implemented, and a diversity of proven control methods is available, but invasion problems grow, largely because feasible policy and management approaches are not implemented. The lack of action reflects willful myopia, a decision not to act because of negligence by policymakers, managers, and individuals. We explore the multidimensional ethical implications of this view and propose a continuum of ethical hazard. We relate the ethical dimensions to legal aspects of culpability and suggest a possible cutoff for legal liability. Finally, we identify four components of a desired policy response: It must ensure legal authority for action, base policy response on market forces, assure that more than simplistic economic considerations underpin decisions, and better engage the public.
KW - Invasive species
KW - denialism
KW - economic considerations
KW - policy
KW - prevention
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85077861382&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/biosci/biz121
DO - 10.1093/biosci/biz121
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85077861382
VL - 70
SP - 60
EP - 70
JO - BioScience
JF - BioScience
SN - 0006-3568
IS - 1
ER -