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| Open AccessBiodiversity increases resistance of grasslands against plant invasions under multiple environmental changes
Species-rich communities tend to be less vulnerable to species invasions, but whether this is maintained under environmental stress is unclear. This meta-analysis shows that the positive effect of biodiversity on resistance to invasion in grassland plant communities is reduced by drought but increased by warming and multiple global change factors.
- Cai Cheng
- , Zekang Liu
- & Jihua Wu
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Article
| Open AccessSerial founder effects slow range expansion in an invasive social insect
Invasive populations often have low genetic diversity because they originated from a small number of founding individuals. This study shows that in an invasive honey bee, one consequence of low genetic diversity is a reduced rate of population expansion due to serial founder effects at range edges.
- Thomas Hagan
- , Guiling Ding
- & Rosalyn Gloag
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Article
| Open AccessReservoir displacement by an invasive rodent reduces Lassa virus zoonotic spillover risk
Mastomys natalensis is a rodent species native to West Africa that is the primary reservoir host for Lassa virus. Here, the authors investigate whether the invasive rodent Rattus rattus decreases M. natalensis density and could therefore indirectly decrease zoonotic transmission of Lassa virus to humans.
- Evan A. Eskew
- , Brian H. Bird
- & Scott L. Nuismer
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Article
| Open AccessRisks posed by invasive species to the provision of ecosystem services in Europe
Non-native species may pose a threat not only to native biodiversity, but also to the provision of ecosystem services. Here, the authors quantify the potential impact of invasive species on a set of ecosystem services across Europe.
- Belinda Gallardo
- , Sven Bacher
- & Montserrat Vilà
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Article
| Open AccessNon-native ants are breaking down biogeographic boundaries and homogenizing community assemblages
Global biogeographic patterns have resulted from millions of years of evolution. Here, the authors show that the global dispersal of non-native ant species is rapidly redefining these biogeographic patterns by homogenizing species assemblages, disproportionally affecting tropical regions and islands.
- Lucie Aulus-Giacosa
- , Sébastien Ollier
- & Cleo Bertelsmeier
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Article
| Open AccessMating harassment may boost the effectiveness of the sterile insect technique for Aedes mosquitoes
The sterile insect technique involves the introduction of sterile males to induce sterility in females and reduce population size. Here, the authors show that sterile males may also reduce female density and inhibit female blood feeding through mating harassment.
- Dongjing Zhang
- , Hamidou Maiga
- & Jérémy Bouyer
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal freshwater fish invasion linked to the presence of closely related species
Whether non-native species are more or less likely to become established in communities that host close relatives is debated. This global study shows that non-native fish species phylogenetically close to native species are more likely to establish in freshwater ecosystems.
- Meng Xu
- , Shao-peng Li
- & Xidong Mu
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Article
| Open AccessPlant invasion and naturalization are influenced by genome size, ecology and economic use globally
Plant invasion and naturalisation threaten native biodiversity. Here, the authors conduct a global multi-factor and multi-stage analysis, showing that genome size and economic factors influence plant invasion and naturalisation.
- Kun Guo
- , Petr Pyšek
- & Wen-Yong Guo
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Article
| Open AccessRisk of introduction and establishment of alien vertebrate species in transboundary neighboring areas
Controlling and preventing biological invasions requires transnational cooperation. This global study identifies land borders at higher risk of non-native vertebrate invasion and identifies human and environmental factors that predict risk hotspots.
- Qing Zhang
- , Yanping Wang
- & Xuan Liu
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Article
| Open AccessAfrican bushpigs exhibit porous species boundaries and appeared in Madagascar concurrently with human arrival
The evolutionary history of pigs in Africa is unclear. Here, the authors examine 67 whole genomes, finding incomplete speciation between bushpigs and red river hogs as well as evidence suggesting that humans brought bushpigs to Madagascar 1000-5000 years ago.
- Renzo F. Balboa
- , Laura D. Bertola
- & Rasmus Heller
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Article
| Open AccessA global synthesis and assessment of free-ranging domestic cat diet
Free-ranging domestic cats have major ecological impacts globally. Here, Lepczyk et al. compile records of the species consumed by cats, identifying thousands of species consumed, including hundreds of species that are of conservation concern.
- Christopher A. Lepczyk
- , Jean E. Fantle-Lepczyk
- & John C. Z. Woinarski
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Article
| Open AccessQuantifying global colonization pressures of alien vertebrates from wildlife trade
This study compiled a comprehensive global database on live terrestrial vertebrate trade and used it to investigate traded alien species. The authors identify 7,780 species involved in trade globally and show that countries with greater trading power, higher incomes and larger human populations import more alien species, which emerge as hotspots for establishment richness of aliens.
- Yiming Li
- , Tim M. Blackburn
- & Siqi Wang
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Article
| Open AccessInvasive Californian death caps develop mushrooms unisexually and bisexually
The death cap mushroom Amanita phalloides is invading California but little is known about how it spreads through forests. Wang et al. discover that this fungus can develop mushrooms and sporulate without mating; the nuclei involved in unisexuality appear to have persisted in invaded habitats for decades.
- Yen-Wen Wang
- , Megan C. McKeon
- & Anne Pringle
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Article
| Open AccessA latitudinal gradient in Darwin’s naturalization conundrum at the global scale for flowering plants
Alien species could be either more or less likely to become naturalized where closely related species occur. This study reveals a global latitudinal pattern whereby successfully naturalized alien plants are more closely related to natives at higher latitudes, reinforced by human modification of the environment.
- Shu-ya Fan
- , Qiang Yang
- & Mark van Kleunen
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Article
| Open AccessPlant community stability is associated with a decoupling of prokaryote and fungal soil networks
Soil microbial networks play a crucial role in plant community stability. This study shows that decoupled prokaryote and fungal networks in dry grassland soil support plant community stability over time, while coupled networks in abandoned agricultural soil are associated to instability.
- Dina in ‘t Zandt
- , Zuzana Kolaříková
- & Zuzana Münzbergová
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Article
| Open AccessMechanistic models project bird invasions with accuracy
Forecasts of risks of invasion by non-native species are challenging to obtain. Here, the authors show that mechanistic models based on functional traits related to species’ capacity to generate and retain body heat identify areas at risk of invasion by non-native birds in Europe.
- Diederik Strubbe
- , Laura Jiménez
- & Carsten Rahbek
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Article
| Open AccessSpecies invasiveness and community invasibility of North American freshwater fish fauna revealed via trait-based analysis
Predicting non-native species’ invasiveness and vulnerability of communities to invasions is challenging. Here, the authors show that establishment of non-native freshwater fish species in the US depends on the functional characteristics of both non-native and resident species.
- Guohuan Su
- , Adam Mertel
- & Justin M. Calabrese
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Article
| Open AccessThe impact of land use on non-native species incidence and number in local assemblages worldwide
Anthropogenic habitat modification is considered a driver of non-native species establishment. Here, the authors quantify the occurrence of non-native species in local assemblages of vascular plants, ants, spiders, birds and mammals, finding generally greater presence and frequency under disturbed land-use types.
- Daijun Liu
- , Philipp Semenchuk
- & Stefan Dullinger
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Article
| Open AccessLarge haploblocks underlie rapid adaptation in the invasive weed Ambrosia artemisiifolia
Ambrosia artemisiifolia is an invasive weed and primary cause of pollen-induced hayfever. Here, the authors report its chromosome-level phased genome assembly, examine genome-wide variation among modern and historic accessions, and identify large haploblocks underling rapid adaptation.
- Paul Battlay
- , Jonathan Wilson
- & Kathryn A. Hodgins
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| Open AccessNovel plant–frugivore network on Mauritius is unlikely to compensate for the extinction of seed dispersers
Many plant species depend on frugivores for seed dispersal. Here, the authors investigate plant-frugivore networks in Mauritius, finding that the new interactions gained from the arrival of non-native seed predators are unlikely to compensate for the extinction of seed dispersers.
- Julia H. Heinen
- , F. B. Vincent Florens
- & Michael K. Borregaard
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Article
| Open AccessHuman activities favour prolific life histories in both traded and introduced vertebrates
Predicting which species will become invasive is vital because the harm they cause cannot always be mitigated once populations establish. Street et al. show that traded and introduced species have distinctive life histories with high invasion potential, helping to identify future invasion risks.
- Sally E. Street
- , Jorge S. Gutiérrez
- & Isabella Capellini
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Article
| Open AccessBiological invasions as a selective filter driving behavioral divergence
Invasive species are a leading driver of global biodiversity loss. Here, the authors show that the process of invasion itself can promote behavioral changes important to the success of widespread invaders, with implications for understanding the effects of alien species on invaded communities.
- David G. Chapple
- , Annalise C. Naimo
- & Bob B. M. Wong
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Article
| Open AccessBiological invasions facilitate zoonotic disease emergences
Alien species invasions are thought to be important to zoonotic diseases through the introduction of both existing and novel pathogens to invaded ranges. Using data from 795 established alien animals and 10,473 zoonosis events worldwide, this study examines the role of alien zoonotic hosts on zoonosis emergences after accounting for climate, propagule pressure, global change and sampling bias.
- Lin Zhang
- , Jason Rohr
- & Xuan Liu
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Article
| Open AccessFish predators control outbreaks of Crown-of-Thorns Starfish
Outbreaks of Crown-of-Thorn Starfish (CoTS) have caused coral cover declines across the Indo-Pacific. Here the authors analyse long-term CoTS, coral reef fish monitoring, and fisheries catch data from the Great Barrier Reef to demonstrate removal of predatory fish as a contributor to CoTS outbreaks.
- Frederieke J. Kroon
- , Diego R. Barneche
- & Michael J. Emslie
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| Open AccessWidespread homogenization of plant communities in the Anthropocene
Human-driven movements and extinctions of species have made plant communities across biomes more homogenous. Here the authors quantify plant vascular species and phylogenetic homogenization across the globe, finding that non-native species naturalisations have been a major driver.
- Barnabas H. Daru
- , T. Jonathan Davies
- & Charles C. Davis
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Article
| Open AccessA large invasive consumer reduces coastal ecosystem resilience by disabling positive species interactions
Invasive species could have cascading effects on ecosystem functioning. Here the authors use experimental and remote sensing data and modelling to show that an invasive mammal causes loss of facilitative interactions between sessile ecosystem engineers in salt marshes, and lower ecosystem resilience to disturbance.
- Marc J. S. Hensel
- , Brian R. Silliman
- & Jarrett E. K. Byrnes
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Article
| Open AccessExotic plants accumulate and share herbivores yet dominate communities via rapid growth
It is unclear whether plant-herbivore interactions systematically favour exotic plant species. Here the authors investigate plant-herbivore and plant-soil biota interactions in experimental mesocosm communities, finding that exotic plants dominate community biomass despite accumulating more invertebrate herbivores.
- Warwick J. Allen
- , Lauren P. Waller
- & Jason M. Tylianakis
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| Open AccessDistance to native climatic niche margins explains establishment success of alien mammals
Whether invasive species must first establish in conditions within their native climatic niche before spreading remains largely untested. This study presents the Niche Margin Index for estimating climatic niche-matching of alien mammal species to a particular site, which could be used to help predict the success of invasions.
- Olivier Broennimann
- , Blaise Petitpierre
- & Antoine Guisan
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Article
| Open AccessPolyandry blocks gene drive in a wild house mouse population
This study resolves a long-standing mystery of why t haplotypes, an example of selfish genes, have persisted at unexpectedly low frequencies in wild mouse populations. It shows that multiple mating by females, which is more common at higher mouse population densities, decreases the frequency of driving t haplotypes.
- Andri Manser
- , Barbara König
- & Anna K. Lindholm
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Article
| Open AccessSmaller climatic niche shifts in invasive than non-invasive alien ant species
Whether or not species—when introduced to a new location—eventually become invasive has been linked to the specices’ capacity to expand its niche. However, here the authors show that the extent of niche shift is smaller in non-invasive than invasive ant species, questioning this established hypothesis.
- Olivia K. Bates
- , Sébastien Ollier
- & Cleo Bertelsmeier
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Article
| Open AccessRapid adaptation to invasive predators overwhelms natural gradients of intraspecific variation
Invasive species can influence the evolution of natives. Here, authors use common garden experiments to show that invasive predatory crayfish have homogenized the developmental timing of a native frog by selecting for more rapid development to avoid predation.
- Andrea Melotto
- , Raoul Manenti
- & Gentile Francesco Ficetola
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Article
| Open AccessEconomic use of plants is key to their naturalization success
Understanding why certain alien species become naturalized can shed light on biological invasion patterns. In this global analysis on thousands of taxa, van Kleunen and colleagues show that plant species of economic use are more likely to become naturalized, and that this underlies geographic patterns and phylogenetic signals in naturalization
- Mark van Kleunen
- , Xinyi Xu
- & Trevor S. Fristoe
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| Open AccessAnimal invaders threaten protected areas worldwide
Safeguarding protected areas from invasive species is recognised as a global conservation objective. Here, Liu et al. analyse the occurrence of terrestrial alien animal invaders in protected areas and potential drivers globally, suggesting an impending risk for uninvaded protected areas in absence of preventive actions.
- Xuan Liu
- , Tim M. Blackburn
- & Yiming Li
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Article
| Open AccessDemographic amplification is a predictor of invasiveness among plants
Prior studies have examined fixed traits that correlate with plant invasiveness. Here the authors use a database of population matrices to compare demographic traits of invasive species in their native and invaded ranges, finding that demographic amplification is an important predictor of invasiveness.
- Kim Jelbert
- , Danielle Buss
- & Dave Hodgson
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Article
| Open AccessQuantifying the impact of uncertainty on threat management for biodiversity
Conservation planning rarely considers the uncertainty in management outcomes. Here, the authors develop a value of information approach to quantify uncertainty of threat management success and show that it can improve efficiency of interventions across a large sample of threatened species.
- Sam Nicol
- , James Brazill-Boast
- & Iadine Chadès
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Article
| Open AccessRoot traits and belowground herbivores relate to plant–soil feedback variation among congeners
Most studies of plant–soil feedbacks and associated traits look at remotely-related species. Here the authors look at congeners, and show that nematode-driven plant–soil feedbacks depend on root chemical and morphological traits, independent of phylogenetic distance.
- Rutger A. Wilschut
- , Wim H. van der Putten
- & Stefan Geisen
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| Open AccessSimilarity of introduced plant species to native ones facilitates naturalization, but differences enhance invasion success
Plant functional traits may help distinguish introduced species that will become invasive from those that do not. Here, Divíšek et al. show that functional profiles of naturalized plant species are similar to natives, while those of invasive plant species exist at the edge of the functional trait space.
- Jan Divíšek
- , Milan Chytrý
- & Jane Molofsky
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| Open AccessSpecies traits and network structure predict the success and impacts of pollinator invasions
The role of adaptive foraging in the threat of invasive pollinators to plant-pollinator systems is difficult to characterise. Here, Valdavinos et al. use network modelling to show the importance of foraging efficiency, diet overlap, plant species visitation, and degree of specialism in native pollinators.
- Fernanda S. Valdovinos
- , Eric L. Berlow
- & Neo D. Martinez
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Article
| Open AccessIntroduced species that overcome life history tradeoffs can cause native extinctions
Introduced species may displace ecologically similar native species, but mechanisms are still to be established. Here, Catford et al. provide theoretical evidence of how human-mediated species invasions may overcome competition-colonisation tradeoffs, leading to the local extinction of native species.
- Jane A. Catford
- , Michael Bode
- & David Tilman
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Article
| Open AccessDesigning flows to resolve human and environmental water needs in a dam-regulated river
Human and environmental water needs can come into conflict in dam-regulated river systems. Here, Chen and Olden investigate the potential for the use of fish–flow modeling to make recommendations for the management of native and nonnative fish species whilst providing water for society.
- William Chen
- & Julian D. Olden
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Article
| Open AccessCitizen science provides a reliable and scalable tool to track disease-carrying mosquitoes
Monitoring of the spread of invasive mosquitos is important both for preventing and for understanding disease outbreaks. Here the author report that a scalable citizen science system can provide accurate early warning of the invasion process of the Asian tiger mosquito in Spain, with far more scalable coverage than that of traditional surveillance methods.
- John R. B. Palmer
- , Aitana Oltra
- & Frederic Bartumeus
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Article
| Open AccessLineage overwhelms environmental conditions in determining rhizosphere bacterial community structure in a cosmopolitan invasive plant
Environmental factors often outweigh host heritable factors in structuring host-associated microbiomes. Here, Bowen et al. show that host lineage is crucial for determination of rhizosphere bacterial communities in Phragmites australis, a globally distributed invasive plant.
- Jennifer L. Bowen
- , Patrick J. Kearns
- & Laura A. Meyerson
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Article
| Open AccessSymbiosis limits establishment of legumes outside their native range at a global scale
Symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria (rhizobia) aids the growth of many legume species, but may also restrict their ability to colonize new regions lacking suitable rhizobia. Here, the authors show that symbiotic legumes are indeed less likely to become established in new regions than their non-symbiotic relatives.
- Anna K. Simonsen
- , Russell Dinnage
- & Peter H. Thrall
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Article
| Open AccessEffects of an invasive predator cascade to plants via mutualism disruption
Invasive brown treesnakes decimated the forest bird community on the island of Guam. Now, Rogers and colleagues document the indirect effects of the snake on trees, linking snake-initiated bird loss to reduced seed dispersal and plant recruitment on Guam compared to nearby uninvaded islands.
- Haldre S. Rogers
- , Eric R. Buhle
- & Joshua J. Tewksbury
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Article
| Open AccessNo saturation in the accumulation of alien species worldwide
Alien species of animals and plants can invade new regions of the earth. This study performs a global analysis of temporal dynamics and spatial patterns of alien species introductions over the past 200 years, and reports no saturation in the rate at which these invasion are increasing.
- Hanno Seebens
- , Tim M. Blackburn
- & Franz Essl
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Article
| Open AccessRapid evolution of dispersal ability makes biological invasions faster and more variable
Theory suggests that spatial sorting by dispersal ability can generate evolutionarily accelerated range expansions. Using the bean beetleCallosobruchus maculatus, this study shows that evolution not only increases the speed of range expansion, as predicted, but also increases variability.
- Brad M. Ochocki
- & Tom E. X. Miller
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Article
| Open AccessRapid trait evolution drives increased speed and variance in experimental range expansions
Spatial structure provides unique opportunities for evolution during range expansions. Here, the authors show experimentally using the red flour beetle,Tribolium castaneum, that dispersal and growth can evolve through spatial processes, increasing expansion speed and its variance.
- Christopher Weiss-Lehman
- , Ruth A Hufbauer
- & Brett A Melbourne
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Article
| Open AccessPlants capable of selfing are more likely to become naturalized
Plants with the capability to reproduce easily without mates and pollinators could have an advantage when colonizing new territory. Here, Razanajatovoet al. use a global database to infer that flowering plants capable of selfing have become naturalized in a larger number of regions than those that must outcross.
- Mialy Razanajatovo
- , Noëlie Maurel
- & Mark van Kleunen
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Article
| Open AccessMassive yet grossly underestimated global costs of invasive insects
Invasive insects impose many economic costs, for example by consuming crops and spreading disease. Here, Bradshaw et al. compile a database of the costs of invasive insects and conservatively estimate that the yearly global cost (in 2014-equivalent US dollars) is at least $70 billion for goods and services and $6.9 billion for human health.
- Corey J. A. Bradshaw
- , Boris Leroy
- & Franck Courchamp