Publications by authors named "Hanno Seebens"

The ecological impact of non-native species arises from their establishment in local assemblages. However, the rates of non-native spread in new regions and their determinants have not been comprehensively studied. Here, we combined global databases documenting the occurrence of non-native species and residence of non-native birds, mammals, and vascular plants at regional and local scales to describe how the likelihood of non-native occurrence and their proportion in local assemblages relate with their residence time and levels of human usage in different ecosystems.

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  • The IPBES invasive alien species assessment is the first comprehensive global review focusing on the threats posed by invasive species to biodiversity and human wellbeing, synthesizing over 13,000 scientific and local knowledge sources.
  • It reveals significant and escalating threats from invasive alien species and outlines practical management strategies for addressing these challenges.
  • The assessment has garnered support from 143 member states, urging immediate action against biological invasions to protect ecosystems and communities worldwide.
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Monitoring the extent to which invasive alien species (IAS) negatively impact the environment is crucial for understanding and mitigating biological invasions. Indeed, such information is vital for achieving Target 6 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. However, to-date indicators for tracking the environmental impacts of IAS have been either lacking or insufficient.

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Inclusivity is fundamental to progress in understanding and addressing the global phenomena of biological invasions because inclusivity fosters a breadth of perspectives, knowledge, and solutions. Here, we report on how the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessment on invasive alien species (IAS) prioritized inclusivity, the benefits of this approach, and the remaining challenges.

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Shifts between native and alien climatic niches pose a major challenge for predicting biological invasions. This is particularly true for insular species because geophysical barriers could constrain the realization of their fundamental niches, which may lead to underestimates of their invasion potential. To investigate this idea, we estimated the frequency of shifts between native and alien climatic niches and the magnitude of climatic mismatches using 80,148 alien occurrences of 46 endemic insular amphibian, reptile, and bird species.

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  • Rates of biological invasions have increased over time and are expected to keep rising; however, there’s a lack of long-term data to analyze trends in the abundance of non-native species across various environments and taxonomic groups.
  • Analysis of 180 biological time series from Europe reveals that a majority have been invaded by non-native species, with trends showing local abundance being highly variable, particularly showing declines in marine and freshwater species despite reports of increasing invasions.
  • Local climate conditions, such as temperature and precipitation, significantly influence these abundance trends, indicating that understanding biological invasions requires local data, as impacts are mostly felt locally even though the issue spans larger scales.
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  • This study analyzes global data on non-native species across five groups (ants, birds, mammals, spiders, and vascular plants) to see how land use affects their presence in local environments.
  • It finds that primary vegetation tends to have the lowest levels of non-native species, although some other land-use types also show low occurrences.
  • The research suggests that highly used land can lead to more non-native species, while untouched primary areas help protect native biodiversity and resist invasions.
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Unlabelled: The extent and impacts of biological invasions on biodiversity are largely shaped by an array of socio-economic and environmental factors, which exhibit high variation among countries. Yet, a global analysis of how these factors vary across countries is currently lacking. Here, we investigate how five broad, country-specific socio-economic and environmental indices (Governance, Trade, Environmental Performance, Lifestyle and Education, Innovation) explain country-level (1) established alien species (EAS) richness of eight taxonomic groups, and (2) proactive or reactive capacity to prevent and manage biological invasions and their impacts.

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Our ability to predict the spread of alien species is largely based on knowledge of previous invasion dynamics of individual species. However, in view of the large and growing number of alien species, understanding universal spread patterns common among taxa but specific to regions would considerably improve our ability to predict future dynamics of biological invasions. Here, using a comprehensive dataset of years of first record of alien species for four major biological groups (birds, nonmarine fishes, insects, and vascular plants), we applied a network approach to uncover frequent sequential patterns of first recordings of alien species across countries worldwide.

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  • The spread of alien plant species around the world significantly increased during European colonialism, as empires transported both intentionally and unintentionally various species to their territories.
  • The research indicates that regions formerly occupied by the same European empire (British, Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch) show a surprising level of similarity in their alien plant species, influenced by the duration of occupation.
  • The study also shows that regions of greater economic or strategic importance during colonial times tend to have more similar alien floras, highlighting the lasting influence of European colonial history on today's global plant distribution.
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  • The study analyzes the impact of naturalized plant species on the uniqueness of regional floras across 658 global regions, revealing significant taxonomic and phylogenetic homogenization due to these alien plants.
  • It highlights that the natural decline in similarity among floras as geographic distance increases is lessened by the presence of naturalized species, with climate similarity further driving floristic homogenization.
  • The research suggests that historical relationships and current administrative ties between regions increase plant exchange, posing a threat to the uniqueness of regional floras, and warns that without better biosecurity, globalization will continue to diminish floristic diversity worldwide.
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  • - The Pacific Region is a hotspot for naturalised plant species, prompting the need for research on biological invasions, but lacks a unified database for these species across different islands.
  • - The newly developed PacIFlora database offers a comprehensive, taxonomically standardized list of naturalised vascular plants in the Pacific, detailing their distribution, nativeness, cultivation, and invasive status.
  • - This resource is built upon two major existing databases and aims to support both research initiatives and conservation efforts in the Pacific by providing accessible and organized information on plant species.
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As part of national biosecurity programs, cargo imports, passenger baggage, and international mail are inspected at ports of entry to verify compliance with phytosanitary regulations and to intercept potentially damaging nonnative species to prevent their introduction. Detection of organisms during inspections may also provide crucial information about the species composition and relative arrival rates in invasion pathways that can inform the implementation of other biosecurity practices such as quarantines and surveillance. In most regions, insects are the main taxonomic group encountered during inspections.

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  • Understanding what makes alien species successful can help predict future invasions.
  • Researchers identified three key dimensions of invasiveness: local abundance, geographic range size, and habitat breadth, analyzing data from over one million vegetation plots across Europe.
  • The study found that earlier introductions and certain traits, especially from acquisitive growth strategists, contributed to higher success rates in invasiveness, while also highlighting unique patterns in specific habitats.
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  • Biological invasions have been rising for centuries but future trends in alien species numbers remain uncertain; it's unclear if these species will keep accumulating or if the rate will slow down due to fewer native species available.
  • A new model was applied to simulate future alien species numbers, validated with historical data from 1950 to 2005, predicting a 36% increase in established alien species from 2005 to 2050 across various continents and taxonomic groups.
  • The model identified Europe as having the largest increase in alien species, particularly notable for invertebrates, while Australasia is projected to see declining growth rates.
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  • Understanding the future impacts of biological invasions is complex due to various environmental and socio-economic factors, making expert assessments vital in the absence of quantitative models.
  • An evaluation by 36 experts suggests that alien species invasions may rise by 20%-30%, posing significant threats to biodiversity, regardless of socioecological contexts.
  • Key drivers like transport, climate change, and socio-economic shifts will heavily influence these impacts, but proactive measures could lessen the consequences and contribute to global biodiversity goals.
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  • Biological invasions are a growing global issue driven by increased human connectivity and population, with invasive alien species spreading widely and negatively impacting ecosystems and livelihoods.
  • These invaders disrupt native species, reduce biodiversity, and alter ecosystem functions, leading to long-term ecological consequences that are often only recognized after they become established.
  • Despite successful biosecurity efforts in some countries, like Australia and New Zealand, many nations inadequately address invasions, highlighting the need for enhanced international collaboration and better implementation of management strategies to mitigate their effects.
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  • Biological invasions, particularly of alien plant species, are a significant concern in the Anthropocene, yet their distribution remains poorly understood, prompting this global analysis of contributing factors.
  • The study utilizes statistical models to assess how biogeographic, environmental, and socio-economic factors influence the richness of naturalized and invasive alien plants across 838 terrestrial regions, revealing that socio-economic factors are more significant for invasive species richness.
  • Findings indicate that warm-temperate and tropical regions exhibit higher naturalized plant richness, while islands show markedly higher richness compared to mainland, and the study suggests a need to address socio-economic influences to mitigate the impacts of plant invasions and achieve biodiversity goals.
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Biological invasions have emerged as an eminent feature of global change, with substantial impacts on the environment and human livelihoods. Current research demonstrates that the numbers and impacts of alien species are rising unabatedly. At the same time, we lack a thorough understanding of potential future trajectories for the decades to come.

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The number of released individuals, which is a component of propagule pressure, is considered to be a major driver for the establishment success of non-native species. However, propagule pressure is often assumed to result from single or few release events, which does not necessarily apply to the frequent releases of invertebrates or other taxa through global transport. For instance, the high intensity of global shipping may result in frequent releases of large numbers of individuals, and the complexity of shipping dynamics impedes predictions of invasion dynamics.

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  • China's plan to create a modern Silk Road aims to enhance trade and connectivity across regions.
  • This initiative may unintentionally facilitate the spread of non-native species into new areas.
  • A recent study has identified 14 key areas, or "hot spots," where these biological invasions are likely to occur along the proposed trade routes.
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This dataset provides the Global Naturalized Alien Flora (GloNAF) database, version 1.2. GloNAF represents a data compendium on the occurrence and identity of naturalized alien vascular plant taxa across geographic regions (e.

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One of the best-known general patterns in island biogeography is the species-isolation relationship (SIR), a decrease in the number of native species with increasing island isolation that is linked to lower rates of natural dispersal and colonization on remote oceanic islands. However, during recent centuries, the anthropogenic introduction of alien species has increasingly gained importance and altered the composition and richness of island species pools. We analyzed a large dataset for alien and native plants, ants, reptiles, mammals, and birds on 257 (sub) tropical islands, and showed that, except for birds, the number of naturalized alien species increases with isolation for all taxa, a pattern that is opposite to the negative SIR of native species.

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  • Alien plants are increasingly escaping cultivation into native ecosystems, with about 75% of these species found in domestic gardens and 93% in botanical gardens.
  • The rise of a global trade network in the 18th and 19th centuries has led to more cultivated alien plants appearing in the wild compared to non-cultivated aliens.
  • Botanical gardens still play a vital role in plant introduction and research, but they rely more on commercial nurseries now, and there is a need for more research into breeding non-invasive plant cultivars.
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  • Understanding past invasion history helps predict future invasive alien species, but newly emerging species present significant challenges for global biosecurity.
  • A study shows that even after centuries of invasions, new alien species are still frequently recorded, with a notable 25% of such records from 2000-2005 being entirely new.
  • The increase in emerging alien species isn’t only due to known factors like trading but also relates to new regions being introduced into the potential species pool because of expanding trade and environmental changes, making future impacts unpredictable.
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