The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 
(USDA) Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service (APHIS) is a 
Government agency that moves with 
the times. As agricultural trends 
become apparent, APHIS is there to 
work with producers on issues such as 
trade, plant and animal pests, invasive 
species, biotechnology, and methods 
development for dealing with new plant 
and animal pests and diseases. 
2 Future Trends in Agricultural Tra 
APHIS scientists work with other 
Government agencies, industry, academia, 
and stakeholder groups to ensure that 
the agency is solving today’s problems and 
will be positioned properly to deal with 
tomorrow’s. 
Invasive Species 
Over the past 200 years, several thousand 
foreign plant and animal species have 
become established in the United States. 
Today, about one in seven nonnative species 
introduced into the United States has 
become invasive, leading to problems that 
cost this country more than $138 billion a 
year. Imagine what those figures will be like 
1 year, 10 years, 20 years from now. As more 
and more countries enter the world market- 
place, the United States needs to look for- 
ward in order to prevent the continued 
introduction of invasive species into the 
country. 
An invasive species is an alien species whose 
introduction causes, or is likely to cause, 
economic or environmental harm or harm to 
human health. Invasive plants, animals, and 
aquatic organisms often lessen the economic 
productivity and ecological integrity of U.S. 
agricultural and natural resources. 
The most common vertebrate invasive 
species in the continental United States 
include house sparrows, European starlings, 
commensal rodents (roof rat, Norway rat, 
and house mouse), and nutria. Additionally, 
numerous invertebrate invasive species have 
also become established in the United States. 
Examples include zebra mussels, imported 
fire ants, Africanized honey bees, and many 
other insects. Feral animals are domesticated 
animals that have escaped and become wild, 
including their offspring born in the wild. In 
Hawaii and some mainland States, feral pigs, 
goats, and cats have severely affected natural 
and environmental resources. 
