Nonindigenous species (NIS) represent a threat to aquatic biodiversity worldwide. However, freshwater ecosystems in drylands are potentially more prone to biological invasions than those located in temperate regions because of the higher number of artificial waterbodies generally occurring in these areas, which might act as invasion hubs for NIS. We review the available information about NIS in Sicilian waterbodies, discuss the role exerted by artificial lakes and ponds in facilitating the establishment of NIS in arid and semiarid areas, and compare the invasibility of permanent and temporary waterbodies in drylands. Artificial waterbodies increase the target-area effect for dispersers and provide a hospitable environment for NIS because of their recent origin and the lack of efficient biological filters against newcomers, thus acting as bridgeheads and invasion hubs favouring invasive species. Finally, we propose actions to attenuate the threats caused by NIS to the sensitive native biota of aquatic ecosystems in drylands.

非本地物种（NIS）构成了对全球水生生物多样性的威胁。但是，与温带地区的干旱生态系统相比，干旱地区的淡水生态系统可能更容易受到生物入侵，因为这些地区通常会出现大量人工水体，这些水体可能成为NIS的入侵中心。我们回顾了有关西西里水体中NIS的可用信息，讨论了人工湖和池塘在促进干旱和半干旱地区建立NIS方面所发挥的作用，并比较了旱地中永久性和临时性水体的入侵性。人造水体增加了分散剂的目标区域效果，并为NIS提供了一个好客的环境，因为它们的起源和缺乏针对新来者的有效生物过滤器，因此成为有利于入侵物种的桥头堡和入侵中心。最后，我们提出了减轻NIS对旱地水生生态系统敏感本地生物群系的威胁的行动。