Why say “Introduced Nuisance Species?”
The fear of immigration is never isolated to humans… It includes nonhuman migrants in the form of unwanted germs, insects, plants, and animals.”
Banu Subramaniam in The Ethics and Rhetoric of Invasion Ecology
Language and the way we describe things is always impactful, and in science and ecology especially, using specific vocabulary is very important in describing the natural world. It is not only important to make our language as specific and clear as possible, but also to make sure our language is inclusive and doesn’t promote harmful stereotypes or histories.
Most relevant to this project, terms like “invasive,” “alien,” or “exotic” species have very xenophobic, anti-immigrant, and militaristic origins and connotations. Thus, we try to replace such terms with terms like “introduced nuisance species,” “adventive species,” or “non-endemic species.”
Here are more terms to keep in mind:
| Use This! | Not this: |
| Introduced nuisance species | Invasive/Alien/Exotic/non-native species – xenophobic nativist origin |
| Participant science or community science | Citizen Science – exclusive to non-citizens |
| Sex/Male/Female | Man/Woman – Gender is a social construct, don’t use it when describing biological sex |
| Established/Early Successional Species | Colonization/Colonizer – normalizes terms of human violence, racism, and genocide as a natural phenomenon |
| Identified/Described | Discover/Discovery – erases longstanding indigenous knowledge of environments and ecosystems prior to colonialism and Western science |
Learn more:
- “Invasive species” has a harmful nativist bias (Vox Article)
- Learn more about inclusive language with the EEB Language Project, a community initiative which compiles resources for inclusive ecology and evolutionary biology language.
- Championing inclusive terminology in ecology and evolution (Paper)
Colonialism and “Invasion” Biology
It is not hard to see that European colonialism and the spread of introduced species are linked beyond their shared language and terminology. A Nature Ecology & Evolution study found that regions that were once occupied by the same European colonial power — such as India and Sri Lanka — tend to have similar species of introduced plants. The concept of “environmental imperialism” describes the alteration of a native landscape to suit a colonial project, and nowadays, due to globalization, biotic homogenization—the replacement of native communities with expanding introduced cosmopolitan species—has become even more impactful. In studying the topic of introduced nuisance species, especially on Pacific islands, we must recognise the settler colonial structures that have allowed for the introduction of those species. Introduced species that outcompete indigenous species relied upon by indigenous communities as resources and cultural practices are just one of the many destructive impacts that colonialism deals onto those communities.
Learn more:
- Invasive plant species carry legacy of colonialism (Nature Article)
- Invasive species as a metaphor for colonialism (Rewilding Magazine)
- Co-Colonizing: The Ecological Impacts of Settler Colonialism in the American Supercontinent (Synthesis)
- Environmental imperialism: invasive species (Opinion article)
- Anishnaabe Aki: an indigenous perspective on the global threat of invasive species (Paper)
Science and Indigenous Knowledge
At school, I was taught this myth that it was European and American white men who discovered all these different physical systems on Earth — on land, in the skies and in the water. But Indigenous people have been observing those same systems for hundreds or thousands of years.
Dominique David-Chavez in Weaving Indigenous knowledge into the scientific method
Western science often paints itself as the paramount source for objective truth, while traditional forms of knowledge are viewed as biased. In reality, all forms of knowledge are inherently biased, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) gathered by indigenous people over thousands of years and hundreds of generations of direct contact with the environment has immense value in both researching and learning more about the natural world, as well as in taking action to manage and conserve ecosystems that have become under threat due to the legacies of colonialism and industrialization. There have been many examples of indigenous knowledge guiding scientific work and research, but it is also important to approach these relationships with care and respect. Western science has often wrongfully claimed credit for “discoveries” that have been well known to indigenous people beforehand, and indigenous knowledge has often been invalidated in the eyes of science. Therefore, it’s important to question assumptions on what can be considered “science,” and work to involve and carefully foster respectful relationships with indigenous communities themselves, and make sure they are appropriately compensated for their contributions.
We have the right to free, prior and informed consent before research relating to our
The Paoakalani Declaration
biological resources commences. Researchers, corporations, educational institutions,
government or others conducting such research must fully and entirely inform Kanaka Maoli
regarding the purposes of their research and recognize our right to refuse to participate.”
Learn more:
- The Paoakalani Declaration, a declaration of self determination to perpetuate Native Hawaiian culture under threat of theft and commercialization of their traditional knowledge
- Bridging Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge (Science article)
- When Scientists “Discover” What Indigenous People Have Known For Centuries (Smithsonian Magazine)
- Weaving Indigenous Knowledge into the Scientific Method (Nature article)
- Anishnaabe Aki: an indigenous perspective on the global threat of invasive species (Paper)