Horticultural trade is the primary pathway for the introduction of invasive plant species. Increasingly, trade is conducted online via e-commerce platforms. We used automated web scraping to capture snapshots of the online plant trade in Australia across 11 e-commerce websites between 2020 and 2023, aiming to identify potentially invasive species for sale. We identified 3,822 species for sale, which we categorised based on their Australian regulatory, naturalisation and native status, as well as their evidence of impacts elsewhere. We found the sale of 194 ‘Priority’ species, which are already considered invasive in Australia; 544 ‘Attention’ species, which have naturalised in Australia; and 175 ‘Watch’ species that are invasive elsewhere in the world but have not yet naturalised in Australia. We further prioritised the 175 Watch species, highlighting four species (Berberis thunbergii, Artemisia vulgaris, Rosa rugosa, and Elaeagnus angustifolia) for immediate investigation based on global occupancy and abundance, climate suitability, propagule pressure, and evidence of impacts. We also evaluate invasion risk across e‑commerce platform types, finding that public online marketplaces list more plant taxa over time than nursery websites and that marketplaces and generalist nurseries tend to offer species with higher invasion risk than specialist nurseries. We recommend that this dataset is used as an aid for prioritising weed risk assessments by government authorities to prevent the establishment of new invasive plant species.

To supply the high demand for wildlife as exotic pets, animals may be illegally and unsustainably harvested from the wild and laundered as captive bred. Consequently, there is considerable interest in wildlife forensic tools that are capable of verifying captive origins. Stable isotope analysis is an emerging tool for verifying captive and wild origins by identifying key differences in dietary intake. While previous studies have effectively classified origins by differences in their stable isotope ratios, these studies are often limited to species with small population sizes and geographic ranges, masking potential variation caused by different environments and diets. We tested the accuracy of stable carbon (delta 13C) and nitrogen (delta 15N) isotope analyses to verify captive and wild origins using bird species that are common in pet trade, and have widespread distributions and generalist diets. Through a citizen science project in South Australia, we collected naturally dropped feathers from four native Australian cockatoo (Cacatuidae) species: Galahs (Eolophus roseicapilla); and three Cacatua species; sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita), little corellas (C. sanguinea) and long-billed Corellas (C. tenuirostris). We compared isotope ratios of captive and wild birds and calculated the classification accuracy of using stable isotopes to determine origin. Stable isotope values were significantly different between captive and wild adult birds, where captive birds had significantly higher delta 13C and delta 15N than wild birds. Captive and wild origins of individual Eolophus could be classified with relatively high accuracy (88%). However, Cacatua showed low repeatability and large overlaps between the origin groups, which reduced their classification accuracy (74%). Stable isotope analysis can be a potential classification tool in wildlife trade; however, before on-ground implementation, we recommend that variation from different diets across a species' geographical range be more thoroughly investigated to better understand and explain the full range of possible delta 13C and delta 15N values.

The unsustainable use of wildlife is a primary driver of global biodiversity loss. No comprehensive global dataset exists on what species are in trade, their geographic origins, and trade’s ultimate impacts, which limits our ability to sustainably manage trade. The United States is one of the world’s largest importers of wildlife, with trade data compiled in the US Law Enforcement Management Information System (LEMIS). The LEMIS provides the most comprehensive publicly accessible wildlife trade database of non-the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) listed species. In total, 21,097 species and over 2.85 billion individuals were traded over the past 22 y (2000-2022). When LEMIS data are combined with CITES records, the United States imported over 29,445 wild species, including over 50% of all globally described species in some taxonomic groups. For most taxa, around half of the individuals are declared as sourced from the wild. Although the LEMIS provides the only means to assess trade volumes for many taxa, without any associated data on most wild populations, it is impossible to assess the impact on biodiversity, sustainability of trade, or any potential risk of pest or pathogen spread. These insights underscore the considerable underestimation of trade and the urgent need for other countries to adopt similar mechanisms to accurately record trade.

Introduction Rainbow Lorikeets (Trichoglossus moluccanus) are a highly desirable bird in Australian pet trade and consequently have established invasive populations outside their native range. These birds are aggressive, outcompete native species, and cause significant damage to agriculture. Invasive populations have not been impacted by existing management practices, and it is unclear if their persistence is due to their high reproductive success in the wild, or from regular escapes from captivity.Methods We tested the ability of stable isotope analysis to identify recently escaped captive Rainbow Lorikeets in wild populations within Australia. We compared the stable carbon (delta 13C) and nitrogen (delta 15N) isotopes of captive birds to three wild populations at different stages of the pet-release pathway: (i) birds within their native distribution; (ii) a newly established population; and (iii) a large invasive population.Results We found evidence of two escaped captive birds in the newly established population due to the higher and more variable delta 13C, which is likely driven by the consumption of nectar supplements. The invasive population had a similar isotopic niche area to the native population; potentially indicating the invasive birds have adapted to the environment and learnt to consume a large variety of local food sources, therefore reducing the effectiveness of detecting recent escapees.Discussion Therefore, for contained wild populations with small isotopic niches, stable isotope analysis can be a useful tool to identify captive escapees and can inform management of invasive species incursions.

Wildlife trade remains a major driver of accelerating global biodiversity loss, yet our knowledge of this trade remains fragmented. Our understanding of trade origins and flows is particularly poor, which prevents decision makers from identifying trends or assessing law enforcement efficacy. We assess the global dimensions of trade into the US across multiple taxonomic groups over two decades. We analyze geographic patterns to identify the origins of traded wildlife, including in endemic and threatened species. We identify major inconsistencies in provenance of wild species exports, as many traded species are labeled "wild," but not native to the country of export. The European Union represents a major source of arachnids and reptiles, many declared as wild. We further highlight a range of likely reporting errors, potential species laundering, and possible Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) violations. Counteracting biodiversity threats posed by the global wildlife trade requires better data, better standardization, and clear interventions to manage trade sustainably.

AbstractThe trade of alien species as pets is increasingly recognized as a biosecurity risk due to their intentional and accidental release into the wild. However, pets are often categorized as native or non‐native at a national level, meaning that their presence outside of their native range, yet within their native country, may be an overlooked biosecurity threat. So‐called “domestic non‐natives” have established new populations across several countries and, in some cases, become invasive. Here, we investigated the extent of the domestic trade of native Australian pet species outside of their natural distributions and determined whether such locations were climatically suitable for potential alien establishments. Australia provides a unique system to explore this issue because it deters the trade of most alien species yet permits the keeping of a large diversity of native pets. We monitored trade from a popular Australian e‐commerce site used to trade native pet birds, reptiles, and amphibians (29 k advertisements over 1 year; from July 2019 to July 2020). Of the 177 native vertebrate species we observed in the pet trade, 129 species (73%) had at least some instances of their trade occurring outside of their natural distribution. We found that climatically suitable environments were present outside the native range of 90 species and that these regions were proximal to suburbs where we observed trade. Our results indicate that the “domestic non‐native” trade is widespread in Australia and that, if captive pets escape or are released into the wild in sufficient numbers, there is a risk of establishment for most of these species. We suggest that regulations pertaining to the trade of native pets ensure that careful biosecurity consideration is given in circumstances when trade occurs beyond a species' native range, both in the context of Australia and for other large countries with widespread pet industries.

Reptiles and amphibians are popular in the exotic pet trade, where Australian species are valued for their rarity and uniqueness. Despite a near-complete ban on the export of Australian wildlife, smuggling and subsequent international trade frequently occur in an unregulated and unmonitored manner. In 2022, Australia listed over 100 squamates in Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to better monitor this trade. We investigated current trade and assessed the value of this Australian CITES listing using web-scraping methods to monitor the online pet trade in Australian reptiles and amphibians, with additional data from published papers, trade databases, and seizure records. Despite the export ban, we identified 170 endemic herpetofauna (reptile and amphibian) species in international trade, 33 of which were not recorded previously in the international market, including 6 newly recorded genera. Ninety-two traded species were included in CITES appendices (59 added in 2022), but at least 78 other traded species remained unregulated. Among these, 5 of the 10 traded threatened species were unlisted, and we recommend they be considered for inclusion in CITES Appendix III. We also recommend the listing of all Diplodactylidae genera in Appendix III. Despite this family representing the greatest number of Australian species in trade, only one genus (of 7 traded) was included in the recent CITES amendments. Overall, a large number of Australian reptile and amphibian species are traded internationally and, although we acknowledge the value of Australia's recent CITES listing, we recommend the consideration of other taxa for similar inclusion in CITES.

AbstractEnvironmental DNA (eDNA) has recently emerged as an effective tool for invasive species biosecurity. We explored the use of eDNA for the detection of khapra beetle (Trogoderma granarium, Everts 1898), an invasive insect of cereal grains and other food products that has a high global economic impact. We developed a novel method for aggregating khapra beetle eDNA deposited in stored grain that entails washing a sample of rice, filtering the sample, and detecting trace beetle DNA using a standard qPCR workflow. To explore the performance of this method, we raised 500 khapra beetle larvae within 500 g of rice over a 14‐day period and then removed them. We then used this “spiked” rice to create a range of simulated densities of khapra beetle larvae. This lab approach mimics conditions that are comparable to field densities of ~1.4 to 180 beetles per 50 kg of rice (1/8 to 16 spiked rice grains per 100 g sample of clean rice), assuming DNA is uniformly distributed within the rice. We detected khapra beetle eDNA from all density levels tested. Logistic models revealed that eDNA amounts equivalent to what is left by ~1 khapra beetle larva in a 50 kg container of rice can be detected with 85% to >97% certainty, depending on the number of qPCR technical replicates run per sample. Based on this model, we estimated that for one 50 kg container of rice where beetle DNA is uniformly distributed, a single sample of 100 g with six technical replicates would be sufficient to be >99% certain that the container was free of khapra beetle eDNA (95% credible intervals: 97.7%–100%). Our results suggest that eDNA surveys may be useful as a cost‐effective, first‐step detection of khapra beetle in stored grain and provide a means to map the relative magnitude of khapra beetle transport pathways, informing allocation of conventional biosecurity inspection efforts.

Effective regulation is essential for preventing the establishment of new invasive plants and managing the environmental, social, and economic impacts of those already established. Invasive plants are regulated by jurisdictions at a mix of local, regional, national, and international levels. Enhanced coordination of policy and regulations has been identified as a key strategy for addressing the impacts of invasive species; however, coordination between jurisdictions, and even within jurisdictions, is not always considered. To review regulatory coordination in Australia, we compiled a comprehensive dataset of noxious weeds (defined as invasive plants and potentially invasive plants with controls specified in regulation) in each Australian jurisdiction (i.e., state or territory). We found that jurisdictions on average shared ca. 67% (SD = 15%) of noxious weed listings. Neighboring jurisdictions were not more similar than separated jurisdictions in their noxious weed listings. There were significant differences in the biogeographic native ranges of noxious weeds between jurisdictions, with species native to temperate Asia being most frequently listed overall. The predominant likely entry pathway for noxious weeds in Australia was the ornamental trade. Listings were primarily dedicated to proactive control, prohibiting the cultivation of noxious weeds to avoid their naturalization. There were 415 noxious weeds regulated in a harmonious manner across jurisdictions. However, there were 327 noxious weeds regulated by jurisdictions in a discordant manner, potentially leaving neighboring jurisdictions vulnerable to invasion. We suggest jurisdictions reassess the regulation of these 327 discordant noxious weeds in Australia and utilize a national taxonomic standard to avoid problematic synonyms. Improved cohesion of policies could be achieved through wider adoption of existing regulatory systems and codevelopment of regulations between government and industry.

The increasing popularity of online commerce provides a new opportunity to investigate and quantify the dynamics of pet trade. Understanding these dynamics, including relationships between species characteristics and a species’ relative abundance in trade, can assist in informing trade regulation for conservation and biosecurity. We identified the leading correlates behind the abundance in the Australian pet trade of parrot (Psittaciformes) and passerine (Passeriformes) species. We examined 14,000 online sales of parrots and passerines collected from a popular online Australian marketplace in 2019 (representing 235 species) using an automated data collection method. We identified the characteristics that correlated with online species abundance; including (i) breeding and handling requirements; (ii) trade and availability; and (iii) appearance and behaviour. We found 55% of parrot species and 64% of passerine species traded online were non-native to Australia; of these, 81% and 85% respectively have an extreme risk of establishing invasive populations. Species abundance of both orders was correlated with cheaper prices, which is also associated with a higher invasion risk. Trade in parrots was correlated with attractive birdsongs, being easier to care for, and a preference for native Australian species. Passerine abundance was correlated with attractive plumage colour and, to a lesser extent, the availability of colour mutations and smaller geographic range sizes. These results, combined with an understanding of consumer behaviour and international trends, may help predict which species will become abundant in domestic trade in the future, and identify current and future invasion risks to assist in environmental biosecurity efforts.

Invasive plants seriously impact our environmental, agricultural and forestry assets, and the ornamental plant trade is a major introduction pathway. The variety and extent of the ornamental plant trade is growing in reach and is increasingly facilitated by the internet (i.e., through e-commerce). A lack of surveillance and regulation of e-commerce has resulted in invasive species being widely traded on these platforms. Here, we investigated the extent of illegal trade in invasive plant species in Australia by collecting advertisements found on a popular public e-commerce website. Across a 12-month period we collected a total of 235,162 plant advertisements. From 10,000 of these advertisements (4.25% of total advertisements) we found 155 plant taxa advertised online that were prohibited to trade in at least one Australian State or Territory (12.5% of Australia's total prohibited plant taxa). We detected 1,415 instances of invasive plants advertised, of which 411 breached local jurisdictional (i.e., State or Territory) laws. Opuntia cacti and invasive aquatic plants were traded in the greatest quantities. A variety of uses for plants prohibited to trade were reported by the sellers, with aquatic uses being the most popular (i.e., water filtering and habitat for aquatic animals). We used generalised linear mixed-effects models to test the effect of prohibiting the sale of invasive plants on the quantity and price of online advertisements. Despite Australia's strict internal biosecurity regulations, we found that trade prohibitions had no influence on the quantity and price of trade in illegal invasive plants. Given this, and the extent of illegal invasive plants traded, we believe increased monitoring and regulation of online plant trade is warranted. We demonstrate that targeted searches using string matching is an effective tool for detecting e-commerce trade of invasive species. However, to obtain the most optimal outcomes, regulations should be coupled with increased cooperation from e-commerce platforms and public awareness campaigns. Future weed risk assessments should consider online trade as a key factor in the long-distance dispersal and propagule pressure of a plant. Jurisdictions would also benefit from greater alignment on plant trade prohibitions and revision of associated compliance policies.

Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans ( Bsal ), one of two fungal pathogens that cause the deadly amphibian disease chytridiomycosis, is a major impending threat to salamander biodiversity in North America, where it is not yet known to occur. In the United States, a 2016 wildlife trade policy restricted trade in 20 salamander genera in attempts to prevent Bsal introduction. However, little comprehensive data is available to evaluate the impact of this policy action. Here we collate a dataset of United States amphibian imports from 1999 to 2021 using Law Enforcement Management Information System (LEMIS) data and show that reported legal trade in the targeted taxa was effectively reduced by the ban. Unfortunately, amphibian trade into the United States continues to risk Bsal introduction given that other species and genera now known to carry Bsal are still traded in large quantities (millions of live individuals annually). Additional policy responses focused on Bsal carrier taxa, especially frogs in the genus Rana , could help mitigate the impact of Bsal on North American salamanders.

The trade and keeping of exotic pets has serious implications for both biosecurity and biodiversity conservation. In Australia, the online trade of live invertebrates is an understudied and unregulated issue, with almost non-existent monitoring. It is uncertain what species are being traded, whether they are being identified correctly, and how they are being sourced (i.e., captive bred or wild harvested, native, or alien). Consequently, potential invasion risks and conservation concerns remain unknown. Here, we explored the online trade of terrestrial invertebrates in Australia across a range of publicly available e-commerce platforms. We detected 264 species of invertebrate traded, from 71 families and 168 genera over 12 months. The native Extatosoma tiaratum (giant prickly stick insect) was the most traded species, while the most popular families were Phasmatidae (stick insects), Formicidae (ants) and Theraphosidae (tarantulas). Three species are known to be invasive in Australia, while 87% of species traded were native. The conservation status of almost of the species (92%) listed in the invertebrate trade has not been evaluated. Exploring socio-demographic relationships, we found that human population density was positively correlated with the location of invertebrate sellers. Further, we found the classifieds website had lower prices in contrast to traditional online pet-stores (median of c. A$7 less). Finally, we did not observe a saturation in the number of species traded in our one-year study, exemplifying the need for large scale monitoring and risk assessments for Australia's online terrestrial invertebrate trade. We recommend continued surveillance of live invertebrate trade on e-commerce sites. Substantial changes to legislation and monitoring methods are required at a national level to control the vast number of invertebrates traded across the country, and to minimise the future risks of the invertebrate trade.

Supporting data from publication "The dark web trades wildlife, but mostly as drugs"

ABSTRACT The fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans ( Bsal ) is a major potential threat to salamander biodiversity in North America, where it is not yet known to occur. In the United States, a 2016 policy restricted the trade in 20 salamander genera in attempts to prevent Bsal introduction. However, little comprehensive data is available to evaluate the impact of this policy action. Here, we collated a dataset of United States amphibian imports from 1999 to 2021 and show that reported legal trade in the targeted taxa was effectively reduced by the ban. Unfortunately, amphibian trade into the United States continues to risk Bsal introduction given that other species and genera now known to carry Bsal are still traded in large quantities (millions of live individuals annually). Additional policy responses focused on Bsal carrier taxa, especially frogs in the genus Rana , could help mitigate the impact of Bsal on North American salamanders.

Terrestrial arthropods are a diverse taxonomic group of significant ecological and economic importance. Our ability to understand the diversity that comprises this group is hampered by the variety of sampling techniques and high level of taxonomic expertise required to identify individual species. DNA metabarcoding approaches have potential to overcome these challenges but have been mainly limited to studies where DNA is directly extracted from trapped individuals. We posit that collection of environmental DNA (eDNA) deposited on vegetation surfaces could provide an alternative method of conducting metabarcoding-based arthropod inventories. In this study, we illustrate the promise of characterizing arthropod biodiversity based on eDNA collected from terrestrial plant surfaces. We collected 40 paired samples using two novel eDNA sampling techniques-tree bark and foliage sampling-in a New Jersey, USA, pine barrens forest. Metabarcoding using two primer sets revealed significantly higher taxonomic richness for the 16S versus COI primer set (1077 vs. 650 molecular operational taxonomic units; MOTUs), as well as higher richness and diversity in foliage versus bark samples. Accumulation curves suggest that our samples captured about half of the available MOTU-level diversity. Matching to reference databases revealed 28 arthropod orders, 181 families, 353 genera, and 292 species. Despite having lower MOTU-level richness, the COI primer set revealed more taxa that were identified to species (197 vs. 115) and genus (227 vs. 173) thanks to a more complete reference database. The two primer sets and sampling substrates showed distinct community compositions that differed in important ecological traits (feeding guild, body size), demonstrating the utility of a multi-faceted sampling and analytical approach. Our study highlights the value of exploiting eDNA left on plant surfaces via metabarcoding for contributing to rapid arthropod inventories, and thus realizing a range of ecological research and management goals.

The international trade of non-domesticated pets impacts both conservation and biosecurity via the harvest and release of live animals beyond their native distributions. The extent to which individual countries mitigate these impacts via regulation of trade is inconsistent, as is their capacity to monitor internet facilitated trade. We investigated the online trade of vertebrate pets within Australia, a country with a reputation for relatively stringent pet-importation regulations and world-class border biosecurity. Using semi-automated data mining (i. e., webscraping) techniques, we collected online pet trade data over the course of 14 weeks from 12 Australian ecommerce platforms selected using an a priori set of search terms. We analysed spatial, temporal and taxonomic biases in trade and identified instances of high rates of trade in: (i) threatened species, (ii) non-native species, (iii) and species not permissible for live import. We identified over 100,000 individual live animals across 1192 species, including: 667 non-native species for sale within Australia from 03/12/2019 to 20/03/2020 (mammals were excluded from our analysis). Our findings constitute a much greater scale (in terms of abundance and richness) of non-native species trade than previously recorded in Australia. Substantial changes to legislative control of domestically traded pets are needed at the national level to reduce the volume of non-native pets that may contribute to the establishment of invasive species in Australia. We suggest that contemporary examples of permit systems applied to native taxa may provide a valuable template for the implementation of such changes.

The live pet trade is a major driver of both biodiversity loss and the introduction of invasive alien species. Building a comprehensive understanding of the pet trade would improve prediction of conservation and biosecurity threats, with the aim to prevent further negative impacts. We used South Australia’s native wildlife permit reporting system as a data-rich example of a live vertebrate pet market, spanning 590 species across 105 families of terrestrial vertebrates (mammals, reptiles, birds and amphibians). Using a piecewise Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach, we tested the influence of 11 a priori variables relating to pets (e.g., species traits), pet owners (e.g., socioeconomic metrics), and regulatory systems (e.g., permit requirements) on the quantities of bird and reptile captive keeping, breeding, trading, and escapes into the wild. Birds and reptiles with higher annual fecundity, as well as widely distributed reptiles with higher adult mass, were more likely to be kept in captivity and sold. Species with more stringent permit requirements were possessed, and escaped, in lower abundances. Pet keeping was weakly correlated with regions of lower population densities and higher unemployment rates, yet other socioeconomic variables were ultimately poor at explaining trade dynamics. More escapes occurred in regions which possessed larger quantities of pets, further emphasising the role of propagule pressure in the risk of pet escapes. Synthesis and applications: Species traits are a strong determinant of pet trade dynamics, yet permit systems also play a key role in de-incentivising undesirable trade practices. While our research highlights the potential of trade regulatory systems, we recommend that consistent permit category criteria are established to reduce trade in threatened species, as well as alien species of high biosecurity risk. Implementation of such systems is broadly needed across a greater diversity of wildlife markets and jurisdictions.

Abstract The exotic pet trade has largely shifted from traditional brick-and-mortar shops to online commerce. Understanding the dynamics of online pet trade, including relationships between species characteristics and a species’ relative popularity, can assist in informing trade regulation for conservation and biosecurity. Here, we identified the leading correlates behind the abundance in the Australian trade of parrot (Psittaciformes) and songbird (Passeriformes) species. We examined 14,000 online sales of parrots and songbirds collected from a popular online Australian marketplace in 2019 (representing 235 species) using an automated data collection method. We identified the characteristics that correlated with online species abundance (i.e., popularity); including (i) breeding and handling requirements; (ii) trade and availability; and (iii) appearance and behaviour. We found 55% of parrot species and 64% of songbird species traded online were non-native to Australia (i.e., alien species), most of which (81% and 85% respectively) have an extreme risk of establishing invasive populations. Species abundance of both orders was influenced by cheaper prices, which is associated with a higher invasion risk. Trade in parrots was also correlated with attractive birdsongs, being easy to care for, and a preference for native Australian species. Songbird abundance was correlated with attractive plumage colour and, to a lesser extent, the availability of colour mutations and smaller range sizes. These results, combined with an understanding of consumer behaviour and international trends, may help predict which species will become popular in domestic trade in the future, and identify current and future invasion risks to assist in environmental biosecurity efforts.