Journal ArticleDOI
Progress toward understanding the ecological impacts of nonnative species
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TLDR
19 testable hypotheses that explain temporal and spatial variation in impact are identified and reviewed and highlight the importance of the functional ecology of the nonnative species and the structure, diversity, and evolutionary experience of the recipient community as general determinants of impact.Abstract:
A predictive understanding of the ecological impacts of nonnative species has been slow to develop, owing largely to an apparent dearth of clearly defined hypotheses and the lack of a broad theoretical framework. The context dependency of impact has fueled the perception that meaningful generalizations are nonexistent. Here, we identified and reviewed 19 testable hypotheses that explain temporal and spatial variation in impact. Despite poor validation of most hypotheses to date, evidence suggests that each can explain at least some impacts in some situations. Several hypotheses are broad in scope (applying to plants and animals in virtually all contexts) and some of them, intriguingly, link processes of colonization and impact. Collectively, these hypotheses highlight the importance of the functional ecology of the nonnative species and the structure, diversity, and evolutionary experience of the recipient community as general determinants of impact; thus, they could provide the foundation for a theoretical framework for understanding and predicting impact. Further substantive progress toward this goal requires explicit consideration of within-taxon and across-taxa variation in the per capita effect of invaders, and analyses of complex interactions between invaders and their biotic and abiotic environments.read more
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What determines positive, neutral, and negative impacts of Solidago canadensis invasion on native plant species richness?
TL;DR: It is suggested that the characteristics of recipient communities are the most important determinants of invasion impacts and that invasion impacts may be a continuum across an entire invaded range.
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Priority effects: natives, but not exotics, pay to arrive late
TL;DR: It is suggested that, when exploring assembly mechanisms in community ecology, the costs associated with late arrival may be as important as the benefits of arriving early, and may ultimately play a role in promoting the local success and overall distribution of exotic invaders.
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Global Salmonidae introductions reveal stronger ecological effects of changing intraspecific compared to interspecific diversity
TL;DR: This meta-analysis demonstrated that the global effects of native species introductions exceeded those induced by non-native invaders and had important implications because human-assisted introductions of domesticated organisms are ubiquitous and likely to proliferate in the future.
Journal ArticleDOI
The importance of assessing positive and beneficial impacts of alien species
TL;DR: It is advocated that the development of transparent and evidence-based frameworks assessing positive and beneficial impacts might advance the scientific understanding of impact dynamics and better inform research on alien species and biological invasions.
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Trophic consequences of introduced species: Comparative impacts of increased interspecific versus intraspecific competitive interactions.
TL;DR: It is suggested that trophic niche divergence facilitates the integration of introduced species into food webs, but there are differences in how this manifests between introductions that increase inter‐ and intraspecific competition.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
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