Citation: Sandvik, H. (2023) For quantitative criteria in alien species assessment. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 11, 1119094, 5 pp. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1119094
Key words: Impact assessment, invasive species, qualitative assessment, quantitative assessment, risk assessment, testability.
Abstract:
Impact or risk assessments of alien species can use qualitative criteria (such
as verbally described categories) or quantitative criteria (numerically defined
threshold values of empirically measurable quantities). According to a common
misconception, the use of qualitative criteria in invasion biology is justified
by uncertainty in the available data. Yet qualitative criteria have the effect
of increasing uncertainty. In contrast, assessments using quantitative
criteria are testable, transparent, highly repeatable and comparable. Most of
these characteristics do not even depend on the availability of numerical data.
Although quantitative criteria do not necessarily make assessments correct,
they do make them correctable, which is the benchmark of science.
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