Invasive species, such as vertebrate pests, weeds, marine pests and diseases, are a key threat to Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries and the environment.
ABARES invasive species research and analysis contributes to Australia’s preparedness for the incursion of exotic species, and the management of nationally significant pests, weeds and diseases, as well as their potential impacts on Australia’s economy, society and environment.
The Invasive Species program provides research, analysis and advice to policy areas of the Department of Agriculture, the IGAB, NEBRA, Sectoral Committees (Environment and Invasives Committee and Marine Pest Sectoral Committee), emergency response consultative committees, pest and weed technical advisory groups, and external clients.
ABARES invasive species research capabilities
ABARES invasive species research is part of ABARES’ broader research focus on biosecurity.
What do we provide?
- scientific advice on invasive species and biosecurity-related issues, pre- and post-border
- development of tools, methodologies and risk assessment to underpin the national approach to pre- and post-border biosecurity
- risk assessment of exotic and established invasive species including the analysis of the impacts of weeds, pest animal and marine pests on the economy, the environment and society
- development and implementation of frameworks for the prioritisation of exotic invasive species
- species distribution modelling
- data collection and analysis
- research leadership and stakeholder engagement
Resources
National Feral Pig Current Distribution in Australia (2024)
Continental spatial dataset of the modelled current distribution of feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in Australia.
Climatch range prediction
You can use Climatch to predict the potential range of a species. This model matches climate data from weather stations where the species occurs to climate data from weather stations in other selected regions.
The National priority list of exotic environmental pests and diseases dataset
The National Priority List of Exotic Environmental Pests, Weeds and Diseases
The National Introduced Marine Pest Information System
Search for introduced marine species
Pestsmart website
Information on best practice pest animal management in Australia
Weeds Australia website
ABARES Invasive Species publications
Find our specialist reports on invasive species
For access to all ABARES past invasive-species-related research visit the ABARES publications library.