Invasive alien species records are exponentially rising across the Earth

Mormul, Roger Paulo; Vieira, Denner S.; Bailly, Dayani; Fidanza, Karina; Silva, Valéria Flávia Batista da; Graça, Weferson Júnio da; Pontara, Vanessa; Bueno, Marcelo Leandro; Thomaz, Sidinei Magela; Mendes, R. S.

doi:10.1007/s10530-022-02843-1

Cited by 30 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Trends in the observed number of IAS in an area (expressed per unit time or cumulatively), from which rates of introduction are estimated, are among the most long‐standing and frequently referred‐to indicators of biological invasions (Butchart et al., 2010; Seebens et al., 2017; Tittensor et al., 2014). Such time series are an intuitive way to visualize and interpret the increase in biological invasions (e.g., Mormul et al., 2022). However, investment in IAS surveillance and monitoring (referred to as “survey effort” here (Table 1(5))) is spatially and temporally variable and the true number of introduced species is different from the observed number, that is, the process by which IAS are introduced is unobservable (Solow & Costello, 2004).…”

Section: Why a Persistent Focus On Invasion Trends?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Invasion trends: An interpretable measure of change is needed to support policy targets

McGeoch,

Buba,

Arlé

et al. 2023

Conservation Letters.

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The Kunming‐Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) calls for a 50% reduction in rates of invasive alien species establishment by 2030. However, estimating changes in rates of introduction and establishment is far from straightforward, particularly on a national scale. Variation in survey effort over time, the absence of data on survey effort, and aspects of the invasion process itself interact in ways that make rate estimates from naive models of invasion trends inaccurate. To support progress toward robust global and national reporting against the GBF invasions target, we illustrate this problem using a combination of simulations, and global and national scale case studies. We provide recommendations and a clear set of steps that are needed for progress. These include routine collection of survey effort data as part of surveillance and monitoring protocols and working closely with researchers to develop meaningful estimates of change in biological invasions. Better awareness of this challenge and investment in developing robust approaches will be required from Parties if progress on Target 6 of the GBF is to be tracked and achieved.

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Section: Why a Persistent Focus On Invasion Trends?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Invasion trends: An interpretable measure of change is needed to support policy targets

McGeoch,

Buba,

Arlé

et al. 2023

Conservation Letters.

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“…In the last decade, several North African arthropods have been detected in southern areas of the Iberian Peninsula, including Xylocopa pubescens Spinola, 1838 (Ortiz-Sánchez, Pauly 2016), Azanus ubaldus (Stoll, 1782) (Oliver 2019), and Cheilomenes propinqua (Mulsant, 1850) (Gil-Tapetado et al 2020). Although these species colonized the area naturally, similar to T. kirbyi, many exotic species have been introduced into Europe from areas much farther away owing to the international trade in goods and ine cient quarantines (Mormul et al 2022). We demonstrate natural colonization by an insect that has, so far, shown no signs of harm to natural autochthonous ecosystems; however, our study shows that the road is paved for large-scale invasions that will cost money for the direct control measures they should trigger (e.g., measures against agricultural pests and vector-borne diseases).…”

Section: Final Remarksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change as a driver of insect invasions: Dispersal patterns of a dragonfly species colonizing a new region

Gil‐Tapetado

López-Collar

Gómez

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The dragonfly Trithemis kirbyi Sélys, 1891 recently colonized Western Europe from North Africa. Since its first record in the Iberian Peninsula in 2007, the species has been spreading northward and has become naturally established in the central and eastern Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands and southern France. Despite its worldwide distribution, its rapid colonization of the western Mediterranean area occurred only very recently. We found that the dispersal and recent establishment of T. kirbyi in southwestern Europe strongly depends on increasing temperatures, particularly summer temperature peaks, which has allowed this species to disperse farther and more effectively than during years with average summer temperatures. The most important variable in the suitability models is the minimum temperature of the coldest month, which, in recent decades, has become less of a limiting factor for ectotherms. According to the models, suitable areas for the species are currently found throughout the eastern Mediterranean parts of Europe, and it is likely that it can naturally colonize these areas as it did in the Iberian Peninsula. Trithemis kirbyi is a model of how climate change and observed rising temperatures have turned previously inhospitable regions into suitable areas for exotic species, which may successfully colonize them naturally if they can reach these promising lands on their own. However, this study serves as a warning that such species can also colonize these new regions with a little help from unsuspecting ‘friends’, which are often responsible for the increasingly common presence of invasive, noxious taxa in Europe.

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“…The subsequent management of such altered ecosystems has resulted in dramatic landscape changes (Foley et al., 2005); the resulting loss and fragmentation of habitat areas have had manifold and overwhelmingly negative effects on species richness (Fahrig, 2013; Hanski, 2015). Additionally, an exponential increase in the number of species introduced beyond their natural range (Mormul et al., 2022; Seebens et al., 2021) and the resulting homogenisation of biogeographic regions is changing ecosystem structure and functioning (Blowes et al., 2019; Fricke & Svenning, 2020) to the point where some predict truly ghastly futures for ecosystems across the globe (Bradshaw et al., 2021). It is thus urgent and vital to better understand the global emergence of novel ecosystems from an ecological, biogeographic and management standpoint.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A biogeographic–macroecological perspective on the rising novelty of the biosphere in the Anthropocene

Kerr,

Ordonez,

Riede

et al. 2023

Journal of Biogeography

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The concept of novel ecosystems has been discussed for over more than a decade to describe ecosystems that have an altered species composition and function, such that the community has crossed a threshold forbidding a return to its historical state. While spatial and temporal community compositional change has been well studied in biogeography, studies on novel ecosystems in a modern context are few and tend towards classifying novelty based on a static baseline. Given that the abiotic and biotic drivers of novelty are in a state of rapid change, and reaching levels unprecedented within the last hundred thousand to million years, defining such a threshold requires additional thought. Here, we discuss a biogeographical–macroecological perspective on novel ecosystems, exploring how such a threshold for novelty can be defined in an environment undergoing progressive global change and suggesting pathways through which the emergence and spread of novelty can be further explored, understood and managed.

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Invasive alien species records are exponentially rising across the Earth

Cited by 30 publications

References 50 publications

Invasion trends: An interpretable measure of change is needed to support policy targets

Invasion trends: An interpretable measure of change is needed to support policy targets

Climate change as a driver of insect invasions: Dispersal patterns of a dragonfly species colonizing a new region

A biogeographic–macroecological perspective on the rising novelty of the biosphere in the Anthropocene

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