Information on the pathways by which alien taxa are introduced to new regions is vital for prioritising policy and management responses to invasions. However, available datasets are often compiled using disparate methods, making comparison and collation of pathway data difficult. Using a standardised framework for recording and categorising pathway data can help to rectify this problem and provide the information necessary to develop indicators for reporting on alien introductions. We combine the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Pathways Categorisation Scheme (CPC) with data compiled by the Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) to report on multiregional trends on alien introduction pathways over the past 200+ years. We found a significant increase in the documented number of multiregional alien introduction events across all pathways of the CPC’s three hierarchical levels. The ‘escape’ pathway is the most common documented pathway used by alien taxa. Transport stowaways via shipping-related pathways are a rapidly increasing contribution to alien introductions. Most alien introduction events were of unknown pathway origin, highlighting the challenge of information gaps in pathway data and reiterating the need for standardised information-gathering practices. Combining the CPC framework with alien introduction pathways data will standardise pathway information and facilitate the development of global indicators of trends in alien introductions and the pathways they use. These indicators have the potential to inform policy and management strategies for preventing future biological invasions and can be downscaled to national and regional levels that are applicable across taxa and ecosystems.

中文翻译：

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跨国引进途径的多区域评估

关于将外来生物分类引入新地区的途径的信息对于优先制定政策和管理措施以应对入侵至关重要。但是，可用的数据集通常是使用不同的方法来编译的，这使得比较和整理路径数据变得困难。使用标准化的框架记录和分类路径数据可以帮助纠正此问题，并提供必要的信息，以开发用于报告外星人入侵的指标。我们将《生物多样性公约》的路径分类方案（CPC）与入侵物种专家组（ISSG）汇编的数据结合起来，以报告过去200多年以来外来物种引入途径的多区域趋势。我们发现，在CPC的三个等级级别的所有路径中，记录的多区域外星人引入事件的数量均显着增加。“逃生”途径是外来生物分类群使用的最常见的文献记载途径。通过与运输有关的途径偷渡是对外星人引进的迅速增加的贡献。大多数外星人引入事件都是未知的起源途径，这突出了途径数据中信息缺口的挑战，并重申了对标准化信息收集实践的需求。将CPC框架与外来引进途径数据结合起来，将使途径信息标准化，并促进发展外来引进趋势及其使用途径的全球指标。