Defining the Impact of Non-Native Species

Jeschke, Jonathan M.; Bacher, Sven; Blackburn, Tim M.; Dick, Jaimie T. A.; Essl, Franz; Evans, Thomas; Gaertner, Mirijam; Hulme, Philip E.; Kühn, Ingolf; MrugałA, Agata; Pergl, Jan; Pyšek, Petr; Rabitsch, Wolfgang; Ricciardi, Anthony; Richardson, David M.; Sendek, Agnieszka; Vilà, Montserrat; Winter, Marten; Kumschick, Sabrina

doi:10.1111/cobi.12299

Back

Journal article

Defining the Impact of Non-Native Species

Université de Fribourg

Jeschke, Jonathan M. Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Restoration Ecology, Technische Universität München, Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany
Bacher, Sven Unit Ecology & Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Blackburn, Tim M. Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, United Kingdom - Distinguished Scientist Fellowship Program, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Dick, Jaimie T. A. Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Essl, Franz Department of Conservation Biology, Vegetation and Landscape Ecology, University of Vienna, Austria
Evans, Thomas Silwood Park Campus, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, Berkshire, United Kingdom
Gaertner, Mirijam Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Matieland, South Africa
Hulme, Philip E. The Bio-Protection Research Centre, Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand
Kühn, Ingolf Department of Community Ecology, UFZ, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Halle, Germany - German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany - Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
MrugałA, Agata Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic
Pergl, Jan Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Průhonice, Czech Republic
Pyšek, Petr Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic - Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Průhonice, Czech Republic
Rabitsch, Wolfgang Environment Agency Austria, Department of Biodiversity and Nature Conservation, Vienna, Austria
Ricciardi, Anthony Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Richardson, David M. Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Matieland, South Africa
Sendek, Agnieszka Department of Community Ecology, UFZ, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Halle, Germany
Vilà, Montserrat Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Avda. Américo Vespucio, Sevilla, Spain
Winter, Marten German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
Kumschick, Sabrina Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Matieland, South Africa

01.04.2014

Published in:

Conservation Biology. - 2014, vol. 28, no. 5, p. 1188-1194

English Non-native species cause changes in the ecosystems to which they are introduced. These changes, or some of them, are usually termed impacts; they can be manifold and potentially damaging to ecosystems and biodiversity. However, the impacts of most non-native species are poorly understood, and a synthesis of available information is being hindered because authors often do not clearly define impact. We argue that explicitly defining the impact of non-native species will promote progress toward a better understanding of the implications of changes to biodiversity and ecosystems caused by non-native species; help disentangle which aspects of scientific debates about non-native species are due to disparate definitions and which represent true scientific discord; and improve communication between scientists from different research disciplines and between scientists, managers, and policy makers. For these reasons and based on examples from the literature, we devised seven key questions that fall into 4 categories: directionality, classification and measurement, ecological or socio-economic changes, and scale. These questions should help in formulating clear and practical definitions of impact to suit specific scientific, stakeholder, or legislative contexts.

Faculty

Faculté des sciences et de médecine

Department

Département de Biologie

Language