Natural regeneration is a critical step for the dispersal of alien plants and the establishment of new invasive foci. The adequate timing and location of germination, as well as the survival of the seedlings, have direct effects on the recruitment of the population, and are expected to depend on habitat characteristics. Understanding the dynamics of these processes, and their variations according to

Globalisation of trade in plants is a high-risk pathway that initiated many plant pest invasions. Models for ranking invasive pests are thus important to risk managers since they help them quickly adapt management strategies. Therefore, the Biological Organisms data Retrieval and Ranking system (BiOR2) process was developed and enabled high-throughput data acquisition connected to a risk assessment

In this study we examined abiotic and biotic factors that could potentially influence the presence of a non-indigenous seaweed, Eucheuma denticulatum, in two locations, one outside (Kane’ohe Bay, Hawai’i, USA) and one within (Mafia Island, Tanzania) its natural geographical range. We hypothesized that the availability of hard substrate and the amount of wave exposure would explain distribution patterns

In the original publication of the article, the last name of the first author was published incorrectly and the correct name is given in this correction.

The detection and control of invasive alien species in marine ecosystems is especially challenging because it is difficult to visualize the full extension of an invasion, while control options are often limited. The invasive scleractinian coral Tubastraea coccinea have spread over 8000 km of the Atlantic coastline, from Florida in the USA to southern Brazil, mainly in association with oil and gas platforms

Polyploidy may contribute to invasive ability as it can lead to high survival and fitness during establishment and enhance the processes of adaptation to novel environments by increasing genetic diversity in invading propagules. Many grasses are polyploid and many are aggressive invaders, making them persistent problems in disturbed environments worldwide. Today, vast areas of central Panama are dominated

Two of the world’s most invasive ants, Linepithema humile and Lasius neglectus, are destined to overlap in range as they continue to spread throughout Europe. Although L. humile arrived first, and is therefore more numerically abundant, L. neglectus is the more behaviorally dominant of the two. We performed lab trials to determine whether L. humile could use numerical abundance to overcome the behavioral

Glossy privet (Ligustrum lucidum) is an aggressive invasive plant that replaces native forests and forms dense stands without understory in central Argentina. However, the consequences of these changes in terms of vegetation structure and composition in bird communities are unknown. Our goal was to understand how the effects of glossy privet invasion-induced habitat changes vary among bird species

The rate of alien species introduction is on the rise and seems unstoppable at a global scale. Once an alien species has been introduced to a new system, early detection and rapid eradication is the only cost-effective alternative to containment and long-term control. Here, we provide an integrative approach combining three sources of information to assist the management of invasive alien species.

Asian carps continue to expand their range in North America, necessitating efforts to limit the spread and establishment of reproducing populations. Mississippi River Lock and Dam 19 is a high-head dam that represents a population ‘pinch-point’ as passage through the lock chamber is the only means by which fishes can complete upstream movement. As such, this location could be a pivotal control point

Biotic interactions and mutualisms in particular have an important role in ecosystem structure and functioning as well as in the maintenance of biodiversity. Understanding how communities respond to the introduction of non-native species and what determines the establishment of novel interactions between native and introduced species will help in determining the potential impacts of biological invasions

Invasive species can significantly affect native species when their niches are similar. Ecological and morphological similarities between the invasive Australian palm, Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, and the native palm from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, Euterpe edulis, suggest that they have similar environmental requirements and functional roles (i.e., the function a species performs in an ecosystem)

Establishment and spread of introduced species are difficult to predict because they are subject to a myriad of factors. A hypothesis which integrates multiple ecological processes, such as the species interaction-abiotic stress hypothesis (SIASH), may improve our ability to predict introduction success (i.e. establishment and spread). SIASH postulates that, along an environmental gradient, species’

Reducing invasive species abundance near the leading edge of invasions is important for maintaining diverse, high-functioning ecosystems, but it can be hard to remove invasives present at low levels within desirable plant communities. Focusing on an invasive annual grass, Bromus tectorum, near the edge of its range in the southern Colorado Plateau, we used an observational study to ask what plant community

Invasive alien species are a major driver of biodiversity loss, with their impacts potentially more intense when complexes of cryptic species are involved. In freshwaters, the anthropogenic manipulation of fish communities has resulted in altered fish communities, and in Europe has increased the complexity of Phoxinus species assemblages. Here, we investigated the Phoxinus communities of the westernmost

Predicting the ecological impacts of invasive species is impeded by context-dependencies that can mediate the strength of trophic interactions. Reproductive status is a pervasive context across trophic and taxonomic groups, yet has mostly been neglected in studies of invader impact. The present study examines the influence of the reproductive cycle on predatory impacts of a known damaging invasive

This paper describes a non-traditional fisheries management concept and an indicator-based framework to encourage and guide management of invasive lionfish (Pterois spp.) fisheries in the temperate and tropical western Atlantic. We introduce the concept of optimum lionfish yield (OLY)—an extension of the concept of ecologically sustainable yield—which considers local ecological health in the establishment

Human activity causes major changes in natural landscapes via introduction of non-native species, development on natural habitat, and alteration of local weather patterns. These factors contribute to global change and may interact to affect local populations of plants and animals. We studied a viable, non-native lizard population (Anolis sagrei) in southeast Alabama, USA that has depended upon thermal

The spread of invasive species can be limited or promoted by the distributions of mutualists, which presents an opportunity for managing biological invasions. However, the ways in which the geographical distributions of mutualists shape the range limits and invasion dynamics of introduced species remains unclear. Legumes include noxious invaders whose success is tied to their mutualism with nitrogen-fixing

Among invasive species, floating plants have a great impact on aquatic ecosystems, forming dense mats that cause a great alteration of the physical and chemical water features. We experimentally assessed the effect of Azolla filiculoides mats on Mediterranean temporary waters using mesocosms with sediments from an invaded marsh and amphibian larvae from surrounding wetlands. Azolla filiculoides formed

Understanding why alien species become dominant in recipient communities requires a biogeographical perspective comparing the ecology of native and introduced populations. The genus Centaurea (Asteraceae) is well-known in invasion ecology because several aggressive invaders, including Centaurea melitensis L., belong to this genus. We compared the competitive ability of C. melitensis individuals from

Invasive species utilize a wide array of trait strategies to establish in novel ecosystems. Among these traits is the capacity to produce allelopathic compounds that can directly inhibit neighboring native plants or indirectly suppress native plants via disruption of beneficial belowground microbial mutualisms, or altered soil resources. Despite the well-known prevalence of allelopathy among plant

Cryptic invasive species are particularly problematic to study, manage, and control because of the difficulty detecting these species within their invaded habitats. Such is the case of the Asian Swamp Eel (Monopterus albus; ASE) where it is established in vegetated marshes along the Chattahoochee River, Georgia. Adult eels have been nearly impossible to detect or quantify with traditional sampling

Beyond measurement of the ecological and economic impacts of invasive species and pest control on conservation, agricultural productivity and ecosystem services, there are multiple social and human dimensions which influence how stakeholders perceive and respond to research and management strategies. Given the increasing global attention on interdisciplinarity to enhance conservation research and management

Species distribution modelling (SDM) is a valuable tool for predicting the potential distribution of invasive species across space and time. Maximum entropy modelling (MaxEnt) is a popular choice for SDM, but questions have been raised about how these models are developed. Without biologically informed baseline assumptions, complex default SDM models could be selected, even though alternative settings

Molecular markers prove to be an invaluable tool in assessing the introduction dynamics, pattern of range expansion, and population genetics of an invasive species. Ventenata dubia (Leers) Coss. (Aveneae; ventenata) is a diploid, primarily self-pollinating, annual grass native to Eurasia and Northern Africa. The grass has a detailed herbarium collection history in the western United States since its

The spionid polychaete Pseudopolydora paucibranchiata (Okuda, 1937) was originally described from Japan and has since been reported as a non-indigenous species in soft bottom communities in the Northeast Pacific, the Mediterranean Sea, around Europe, Australia, Brazil, and Florida. The diagnostic features of the adults are palps with ramified yellow chromatophores, prostomium rounded anteriorly, short

The invasive non-native shrub Chinese privet occupies riparian forests throughout the southeastern US however little is known regarding its ability to impact ecosystem processes. This study aimed to characterize phenological patterns of privet litterfall, litter chemistry, and changes in availability of mobile soil nutrients within riparian zones invaded by privet. Comparisons of native and invaded

Zaprionus indianus was first reported in South America in 1999 and has rapidly colonised most of the continent since. Previous studies established Brazil as the sole entry point into the continent and the source of its expansion northward, but dispersal to the southern limit of its distribution in South America has not been studied so far. In the present work we extracted DNA of 127 individuals collected

The New Zealand mudsnail Potamopyrgus antipodarum is one of most widespread invasive species worldwide. Two phenotypically diverse but genetically mostly uniform clones have been reported in Europe, typically occuring allopatrically. It has been suggested that salinity may determine distributions of the two lineages in Europe, but the hypothesis remains speculative. The snail has recently expanded

Observations of previously unrecorded non-native species in the Gulf of Cadiz (Spain), situated between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, have accelerated since 1980, and increased rapidly in the past 5 years. Four new records of decapod crustaceans have been detected in this region: the African snapping shrimp Alpheus sp., the West African cleaner shrimp Lysmata uncicornis, the Indo-West

Nest predation is the main cause of reproductive failure in many bird species. Identification of predators is crucial to understand and interpret the factors that affect nest predation. Although nest predation is a natural top-down regulator of bird populations, its effect is usually more dramatic when introduced predators are involved, particularly in oceanic islands. In the Azores archipelago, the

Eurasian collared-doves (Streptopelia decaocto; hereafter ‘collared-doves’) have spread throughout North America since they first colonized Florida in the early 1980s. Here I test for adverse effects of this introduced species on four confamilial potential competitor dove and pigeon species using data from the breeding season (North American Breeding Bird Survey; BBS) and the winter (Audubon Christmas

The enemy release hypothesis (ERH) postulates that during the invasion process an introduced species is released from the natural enemies that regulate its populations, promoting its invasion success in the new environment. Callosciurus erythraeus is a sciurid native to Southeast Asia that has been successfully introduced into Argentina and other Asian and European countries. The aim of this study

Most of the West African forests have disappeared or have been deeply fragmented. This deforestation dynamic is still ongoing under a strong demographic pressure, forests being mostly replaced by agricultural lands. On the other hand, some reforestation projects are also undertaken, in particular by planting non-native species like Cedrela odorata. To our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate

Invasions of alien fishes can result in considerable consequences for native biodiversity, including local extinctions of native species through genetic introgression. In Italy, the alien European barbel Barbus barbus was first detected in 1994. It has since undergone range expansion, raising conservation concerns on their impacts on endemic Barbus species, including Barbus plebejus and Barbus tyberinus

Environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques have the potential to become useful tools for investigating the distribution and biomass of aquatic organisms. Additionally, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) photos have recently been applied to evaluate vegetation cover. We tested the ability of eDNA techniques to evaluate the distribution and biomass of an invasive macrophyte, Egeria densa (Brazilian waterweed). We

The increasing trend of biological invasions is one of the most concerning threats for ecosystems functioning. The identification of optimal characters determining the invasive potential of non-native species has always been a challenge in conservation studies. Morphological features can be used as a good proxy to address the invasive success in fish species, assuming that anatomical differences in

Introduced species face numerous biological barriers before they can establish in a new environment. Understanding how they overcome these obstacles is crucial for the development of effective risk assessment and regulation. Reproductive biology is known to influence establishment capacity in plants and is widely used for risk assessment. This biological field should receive more attention, and particularly

Predator induced responses by prey can reduce risk, however, newly introduced predators may not elicit the same predator responses, thus making prey more vulnerable to these new predators. Therefore, examining responses of different prey populations of the same species to a non-native predator may provide novel insights for the evolution of predator recognition. Here, we tested the response of three

Refuges that result from environmental heterogeneity within ecosystems have an important yet under-appreciated role in maintaining native community diversity in face of exotic invasion. The objective of our study was to determine if different refuge types constrain invasion impacts on native biodiversity at the whole ecosystem-scale of the Upper St. Lawrence River. We focused on the voracious round

The North American beaver is a keystone riparian obligate which creates and maintains riparian areas by building dams. Invasive shrubs are common in riparian zones in the eastern U.S., but it is not known if beavers promote or inhibit these invasions. In southwest Ohio, we investigated beaver preference for Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), a prevalent riparian invader, compared to other woody species

Multiple invaders usually co-occur in an ecosystem and threaten the ecological safety of ecosystems. Invasive species from the same origin could facilitate each other’s establishment, while some species could suppress invasion from others with similar traits. For the successful management of aquatic ecosystems invaded by multiple invasive species, we need to better understand the interaction between

The alteration of habitat structure by introduced ecosystem engineers imposes direct impacts on native biota but can also exert trait-mediated indirect effects. In this study, we show that the habitat structure provided by invasive Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) can also indirectly affect parasitism in native blue mussels (Mytilus edulis). We conducted a 3-month field experiment, in which uninfected

The colonization success of non-indigenous species (NIS) of copepods that arrived in the estuaries of Bilbao and Urdaibai (Bay of Biscay) and other expanding species (OES) of copepods that arrived in the former estuary during the 1998–2015 period, as well as the impact of such species on the density and seasonal patterns of congeneric species, total copepods and total zooplankton have been analysed

Invasive shrubs are an emergent concern in deciduous forests of eastern North America. Their extended leaf phenology (ELP)—earlier leaf emergence and later leaf off compared to native shrubs and the overstory canopy—can simultaneously provide photosynthetic benefits to invasive shrubs while negatively affecting native flora and fauna through producing novel understory shade when the overstory canopy

Invasive species can have profound impacts in non-native environments, the mechanisms behind which are often unclear. Learning and memory are notably two traits that may facilitate their impact. Behavioural traits can subsequently mediate learning ability in invasive species, the interaction between which may provide means by which to both better understand and manage invaders. We evaluated this relationship

Given the prevalence of invasive species and high rates of habitat homogenisation across the globe, understanding how these drivers interact to influence native species assemblages is crucial. In river networks, confluences create discontinuities in physical conditions, likely creating hotspots of heterogeneity that influence interactions between native and invasive fish. We examined how spatial configuration

The prey naiveté hypothesis (PNH) posits that prey will often fail to recognize and respond to introduced predators with whom they do not share a co-evolutionary history. We tested this hypothesis by examining anti-predator behaviour in the native characid fish Astyanax ruberrimus in response to its main native (Hoplias microlepis) and introduced (Cichla monoculus) fish predators in Panama. We observed

Despite good recognition of distributions and spread mechanisms of the three most invasive trees in Europe (Prunus serotina, Quercus rubra and Robinia pseudoacacia), their impacts on forest biodiversity are unevenly recognized. Most studies cover only taxonomic alpha diversity, and only a single study included functional and phylogenetic diversity. Using a set of 186 study plots in western Poland we

Many studies have documented the effects of global warming on invasive plants, but little is known about the effects on plant invasion between day and night warming. We tested the impact of day and night warming on seedling growth and the competitive interaction between invasive and native species. Three invasive and three native species in the Asteraceae family were selected. Three warming patterns

North American invasions of Elaeagnus angustifolia L. (Russian olive) are still expanding, and hydrochory could be increasing invasion impacts along rivers. Spatial association between riverine flood-inundation patterns and E. angustifolia distributions suggests a link between seed movement potential and invasion patterns in time and space. Using output from hydraulic inundation models, we mapped inundation

Quantitative integration of factors that potentially affect exotic species richness and abundance at multiple spatial scales is relatively scarce in the literature. Our aim was to address this gap by evaluating the relative importance of the biotic community, abiotic factors, and landscape characteristics on the establishment and spread of native and exotic plant species. We assessed the effect of

Invasive amphibians have considerable ecological and socio-economic impact. However, strong taxonomic biases in the existing literature necessitate synthesizing knowledge on emerging invaders. The Indian bullfrog, Hoplobatrachus tigerinus, a large dicroglossid frog (snout to vent length: up to 160 mm), is native to the Indian sub-continent. Despite the high likelihood of invasion success for H. tigerinus

The ecology of headwater streams is tightly linked to the riparian zone through organic matter subsidies which are highly susceptible to alteration due to biological invasion. Lonicera maackii is a non-native shrub that is a highly successful invader of headwater stream riparian zones in the American Midwest. We assessed effects on benthic macroinvertebrates across a gradient of invasion intensity

Facilitation by nurse plants is a common interaction, whereby climatic harshness and/or other limiting factors are reduced under the canopy of the “nurse” plant, favoring the regeneration of other plant species. In mountain systems, nurse plant interactions among coexisting native and non-native woody species might reciprocally affect the regeneration patterns of the involved species. Elucidating these

The dwarf spider Mermessus trilobatus (Araneae: Linyphiidae), native to North America, has expanded its range over large parts of Europe within less than fifty years. It is notable for occurring in a wide range of mostly agricultural habitats, while most other invasive spiders in Europe are associated with human buildings. As in other invasive invertebrates and plants, the tremendous colonisation success

The European hare (Lepus europaeus) was introduced in the late 19th century in Argentina and has since rapidly expanded northwards, currently occupying the Brazilian south and southeast. Although European hare is known to be a farmland specialist in its native Europe, what habitat types or landscape features are facilitating its expansion in the Neotropics are not yet clear. Here we assessed support

Invasive alien species (IAS) can have serious negative impacts on native species in invaded areas. Researchers attempting to measure the impacts of IAS on native species at a landscape level often face challenges though, because the effects of environmental gradients and spatial autocorrelation on population structures are difficult to separate. To evaluate the impacts of IAS, we used spatial filtering

The introduction of domestic ungulates has altered the natural grazing regime, promoting the invasion of exotic woody plants being seasonality or stoking season one of the key factors regulating the grazing regime. The Pampean Mountain grasslands of Central Argentina have been intensively transformed by the presence of feral horse populations that have increased the last 40 years, coinciding with an