Article (Scientific journals)
What Is the Impact of Accidentally Transporting Terrestrial Alien Species? A New Life Cycle Impact Assessment Model.
Borgelt, Jan; Dorber, Martin; Géron, Charly et al.
2024In Environmental Science and Technology, 58 (7), p. 3423 - 3436
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Keywords :
Life Cycle Impact Assessment; characterization factors; ecosystem quality; invasive species; supply chains; transport; Alien species; American Chemical Society; Assessment models; Lifecycle impact assessment; Product and services; Value chains; Chemistry (all); Environmental Chemistry
Abstract :
[en] Alien species form one of the main threats to global biodiversity. Although Life Cycle Assessment attempts to holistically assess environmental impacts of products and services across value chains, ecological impacts of the introduction of alien species are so far not assessed in Life Cycle Impact Assessment. Here, we developed country-to-country-specific characterization factors, expressed as the time-integrated potentially disappeared fraction (PDF; regional and global) of native terrestrial species due to alien species introductions per unit of goods transported [kg] between two countries. The characterization factors were generated by analyzing global data on first records of alien species, native species distributions, and their threat status, as well as bilateral trade partnerships from 1870-2019. The resulting characterization factors vary over several orders of magnitude, indicating that impact greatly varies per transportation route and trading partner. We showcase the applicability and relevance of the characterization factors for transporting 1 metric ton of freight to France from China, South Africa, and Madagascar. The results suggest that the introduction of alien species can be more damaging for terrestrial biodiversity as climate change impacts during the international transport of commodities.
Disciplines :
Environmental sciences & ecology
Author, co-author :
Borgelt, Jan ;  Industrial Ecology Programme, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7034, Norway
Dorber, Martin;  Industrial Ecology Programme, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7034, Norway
Géron, Charly ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département GxABT > Biodiversité, Ecosystème et Paysage (BEP)
Kuipers, Koen J J ;  Department of Environmental Science, Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Radboud University, Nijmegen, GL 6500, Netherlands
Huijbregts, Mark A J ;  Department of Environmental Science, Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Radboud University, Nijmegen, GL 6500, Netherlands
Verones, Francesca ;  Industrial Ecology Programme, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim 7034, Norway
Language :
English
Title :
What Is the Impact of Accidentally Transporting Terrestrial Alien Species? A New Life Cycle Impact Assessment Model.
Publication date :
2024
Journal title :
Environmental Science and Technology
ISSN :
0013-936X
eISSN :
1520-5851
Publisher :
American Chemical Society (ACS), United States
Volume :
58
Issue :
7
Pages :
3423 - 3436
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Funding text :
This study is part of the Digital Transformation initiative of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. We further thank the IndEcol Digital Lab for providing computational resources and the reviewers of this manuscript for valuable input and suggestions for improvement.
Available on ORBi :
since 21 June 2025

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