Invasive species are an excellent opportunity to think about the nature society desires, particularly in the face of global changes. Nature, and human views of nature, are rapidly evolving; our approach to biological invasions through biosecurity institutions and land management policies must evolve in tandem with these changes. We review three dimensions that are insufficiently addressed. Firs...

Wetlands seem to be especially vulnerable to invasions. Even though ≤6% of the earth’s land mass is wetland, 24% (8 of 33) of the world’s most invasive plants are wetland species. Furthermore, many wetland invaders form monotypes, which alter habitat structure, lower biodiversity (both number and “quality” of species), change nutrient cycling and productivity (often increasing it), and modify f...

Species introductions of anthropogenic origins are a major aspect of rapid ecological change globally. Research on biological invasions has generated a large literature on many different aspects of this phenomenon. Here, we describe and categorize some aspects of this literature, to better understand what has been studied and what we know, mapping well-studied areas and important gaps. To do so...

Invasions are one of the most easily identified spatial phenomena in ecology, and have inspired a rich variety of theories for ecologists' and naturalists' consideration. However, a number of arguments over the sensitivities of invasion rates to stochasticity, density-dependence, dimension, and discreteness persist in the literature. The standard mathematical approach to invasions is based on F...

Species invasions are a principal component of global change, causing large losses in biodiversity as well as economic damage. Invasion theory attempts to understand and predict invasion success and patterns of spread. However, there is no consensus regarding which species or community attributes enhance invader success or explain spread dynamics. Experimental and theoretical studies suggest th...

24 25 It has been suggested that climate change will lead to increased environmental 26 fluctuations, which will undoubtedly have evolutionary consequences for all biota. For 27 instance, fluctuations can directly increase the risk of invasions of alien species into 28 new areas, as these species have repeatedly been proposed to benefit from disturbances. 29 At the same time increased environme...

Understanding species invasion is a central problem in ecology because invasions of exotic species severely impact ecosystems, and because invasions underlie fundamental ecological processes. However, the influence on invasions of phenotypic plasticity, a key component of many species interactions, is unknown. We present a model in which phenotypic plasticity of a resident species increases its...

Biological invasions and natural disasters are similar phenomena: Their causes are well understood, but their occurrences are generally unpredictable and uncontrollable. Both invasions and natural disasters can generate enormous environmental damage, and the frequency of damaging events is inversely proportional to their magnitude. Many nations invest in personnel training, disaster preparednes...

Exotic species are widely assumed to thrive because they lack natural enemies in their new ranges. However, a meta-analysis of 63 manipulative field studies including more than 100 exotic plant species revealed that native herbivores suppressed exotic plants, whereas exotic herbivores facilitated both the abundance and species richness of exotic plants. Both outcomes suggest that plants are esp...

Species' invasions have long been regarded as enormously complex processes, so complex as to defy predictivity. Phases of this process, however, are emerging as highly predictable: the potential geographic course of an invasion can be anticipated with high precision based on the ecological niche characteristics of a species in its native geographic distributional area. This predictivity depends...