AccelNet Implementation Phase 1: Bioinvasion Research Integration across Dynamic Global Ecosystems (BRIDGE)

Biological invasions by non-native species can harm local economies, food security, and human health and well-being and are inherently a multi-national phenomenon. Recent estimates of global annual costs of invasive species exceed $400 billion USD, including substantial impacts on people’s livelihoods and quality of life. Non-native species continue to spread rapidly in all biomes – on land, in freshwater, and in our oceans.

Information about the extent of current invasions in our oceans, however, is limited, creating gaps in knowledge that weaken biosecurity efforts aimed at the prevention and management of invasive species. Clear communication pathways for consolidating information on known marine invasions across international stakeholders, and widely adopted standardized protocols for detecting new or undocumented invasions, are needed to tackle this grand challenge and minimize impacts on society.

Harnessing complementary expertise across highly invested regional and global networks, the AccelNet BRIDGE program will advance key fundamental science at scales needed to support and inform effective biosecurity policy and contribute to training a skilled US-based workforce, poised to leverage international team science to engage with this challenge. These efforts will make detection of marine invasions more efficient, robust, integrated, and informative across global economies, which is essential for the prevention of future invasions.

The AccelNet BRIDGE program will provide a platform for collaboration and communication, to establish the standardized framework, protocols, and capacity to address critical knowledge gaps at scale that limit invasion science. BRIDGE will establish formal lines of communication and a community of practice among data-generators for increased coordination on best practices and quality control.

Working groups will develop co-designed methods for standardized, efficient non-native marine species detection, and increase capacity and expand available tools for data sharing and management, including robust pipelines for rapid delivery to existing data repositories. Network members will generate common protocols to estimate species transport and conduct critical assays and experiments to improve species detection and understand the mechanisms shaping invasions.

Through virtual meetings and annual in-person workshops, trainings, and scientific exchanges, the BRIDGE program will catalyze research on marine invasions and mobilize this science to improve biosecurity management and policy. All materials generated by BRIDGE will be made available to stakeholders from around the world, and advances will be regularly communicated to the public, resource managers, and the scientific community.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.