Ecological impacts of alien species: Quantification, scope, caveats, and recommendations
Date
2015
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Abstract
Despite intensive research during the past decade on the effects of alien species, invasion science still lacks the capacity to accurately predict the impacts of those species and, therefore, to provide timely advice to managers on where limited resources should be allocated. This capacity
has been limited partly by the context-dependent nature of ecological impacts, research highly skewed toward certain taxa and habitat types, and the lack of standardized methods for detecting and quantifying impacts. We review different strategies, including specific experimental and observational approaches, for detecting and quantifying the ecological impacts of alien species. These include a four-way experimental plot design for comparing impact studies of different organisms. Furthermore, we identify hypothesis-driven parameters that should be measured at invaded
sites to maximize insights into the nature of the impact. We also present strategies for recognizing high-impact species. Our recommendations provide a foundation for developing systematic quantitative measurements to allow comparisons of impacts across alien species, sites, and time.
Description
Keywords
biological invasions, context dependence, ecosystem functioning, management, prediction
Citation
Kumschick, S.; Gaertner, M.; Vila, M.; Essl, F.; Jeschke, J.M.; Pysek, P.; Ricciardi, A.; Bacher, S.; Blackburn, T.M.; Dick, J.T.A.; Evans, T.; Hulme, P.E.; Kuhn, I.; Mrugala, A.; Pergl, J.; Rabitsch, W.; Richardson, D.M.; Sendek, A.; Winter, M. (2015) Ecological impacts of alien species: Quantification, scope, caveats, and recommendations. BioScience, 65(1):55-63