United States Register of Introduced and Invasive Species
Links
- Document: Report (11.3 MB pdf) , HTML , XML
- Data Releases:
- USGS data release - A comprehensive list of non-native species established in three major regions of the United States: Version 3.0, (ver. 3.0, 2020)
- USGS data release - United States Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (US-RIIS) (ver. 2.0, November 2022)
- Version History: version history (4.00 KB txt)
- Download citation as: RIS | Dublin Core
Abstract
The pervasive and insidious threat of invasive species costs the United States more than $120 billion, annually. An invasive species is an organism that is not native to a locality and causes (or is likely to cause) harm. An introduced species is one that is nonnative to a locality and occurs there because of human activities or their consequences, including the species’ intentional or unintentional escape, release, dissemination, or placement. The United States Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (US-RIIS, ver. 2.0) contains 14,700 records for three localities: Alaska (545 records), Hawaii (5,628 records), and the conterminous United States (L48; 8,527 records). For these localities, the US-RIIS catalogs introduced species that have become established, thus providing a basis for their prioritization and management. To be included on the US-RIIS, a species must be nonnative to the entire locality and reproducing anywhere in the locality. Each US-RIIS record has information on taxonomy, dates of introduction (where available; version 2.0 for 47 percent of the records), invasion status (invasive or introduced), use for biocontrol (if applicable), and a citation for the information source(s). The US-RIIS was designed to be compatible with country contributions to the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species Initiative, which compiles annotated and verified country-wide inventories of introduced and invasive species. Within the US-RIIS, the density of introduced species per 10,000 square kilometers among the localities ranges markedly, from 3 in Alaska to 1,988 in Hawaii (11 in the L48). The comparative taxonomic composition of the largest groups in the sublists also varies: the Alaska sublist has a majority of flowering plants; Hawaii has a majority of insects; and the L48 is about equally divided between insects and flowering plants. Another benefit of the US-RIIS is that it provides a baseline for effective modeling of species trends and interactions, geospatially and temporally; therefore, it can also be used to track introduced sleeper species that will eventually become invasive.
Suggested Citation
Simpson, A., Wiltermuth, M.T., and Dorado, M., 2025, United States Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (ver. 1.1, April 2025): U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2024–3037, 4 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20243037.
ISSN: 2327-6932 (online)
Study Area
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Methods
- Results
- What’s the Difference? Introduced and Invasive Species
- How Can You Help?
- For More Information
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | United States Register of Introduced and Invasive Species |
| Series title | Fact Sheet |
| Series number | 2024-3037 |
| DOI | 10.3133/fs20243037 |
| Edition | Version 1.0: March 18, 2025; Version 1.1: April 8, 2025 |
| Publication Date | March 18, 2025 |
| Year Published | 2025 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey |
| Publisher location | Reston VA |
| Contributing office(s) | Science Analytics and Synthesis |
| Description | Report: 4 p.; 2 Data Releases |
| Country | United States |
| Online Only (Y/N) | Y |