| Summary: | Invasive non-native species are believed to be one of the biggest threats to biodiversity. Until now biological invasions have been mainly studied from a biological perspective and much research has been undertaken to investigate species’ ecology and potential options for management. Comparatively little attention has been devoted to questions regarding the social construction of the issue. This is despite invasion biologists increasingly acknowledging the fundamental importance of human perceptions, beliefs, attitudes and values inherent in debates about invasive non-native species. This thesis employs a mix of methods from the social sciences to investigate the social construction of biological invasions. Research conducted here is based on the theory of social representations. Thus, taking a social scientific perspective, the thesis contributes to both the development of the theory and an identification of beliefs inherent in the debate on biological invasions and their relationship to people’s attitudes towards species and their management. Those species attributes that predominantly shape the debate – but yet appear to be under-researched – are identified. Based on the findings in this thesis I argue that invasion biology would benefit from a more explicit and transparent use of its concepts and terminology. This will have implications also for the communication with policy makers, conservation managers and the general public. Recommendations for future research are discussed along with limitations of the thesis.
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