Biological invasions can be associated with shifts of the species' climatic niches but the incidence of such shifts is under debate. The reproductive system might be a key factor controlling such shifts because it influences a species' evolutionary flexibility. However, the link between reproductive systems and niche dynamics in plant invasions has been little studied so far. We compiled global...

S lakes, and estuaries are among the most highly invaded ecosystems in the world; in many of them, alien organisms are now a significant part of the biota (Cohen 2002). The best-documented invaders in these systems are fishes. Because many fish species are widely introduced, there is concern among scientists and managers over the homogenization of freshwater fish faunas worldwide (McKinney and ...

This special volume is a compilation of papers from a workshop on Synthesizing Ecology and Evolution for the Study of Invasive Species, held in March 2009 at Lake Tahoe, CA, USA. The goal of this workshop was to bring together a diverse group of scientists to discuss gaps in research pertaining to invasion biology and outline research objectives for the future, with an emphasis on synthesizing ...

BACKGROUND Biological invasions have become the focus of considerable concern and ecological research, yet the relative importance of abiotic and biotic factors in controlling the invasibility of habitats to exotic species is not well understood. Spartina species are highly invasive plants in coastal wetlands; however, studies on the factors that control the success or failure of Spartina invas...

Disturbances often lead to changes in average values of community properties; however, disturbances can also affect the predictability of a community's response. We performed a meta-analysis to determine how response predictability, defined as among-replicate variance in diversity and community abundance, is affected by species removals, species invasions, nutrient addition, temperature increas...

Exotic plant invasions have triggered environmental and economic problems throughout the world. Our ability to manage these invasions is hindered by the difficulty of predicting spread in fragmented landscapes. Because the spatial pattern of invasions depends on the dispersal characteristics of the invasive species and the configuration of suitable habitat within the landscape, a universal mana...

Protected areas (PAs) are intended to provide native biodiversity and habitats with a refuge against the impacts of global change, particularly acting as natural filters against biological invasions. In practice, however, it is unknown how effective PAs will be in shielding native species from invasions under projected climate change. Here, we investigate the current and future potential distri...

Freshwater fish have been widely introduced worldwide, and freshwater ecosystems are among those most affected by biological invasions. Consequently, invasions one of the documented animal taxa, with much information available about invasive species, their characteristics, invaded regions, invasion pathways, impacts, management. While existing reviews address specific aspects invasions, there i...

Consideration of definitions of 'biological invasion' and 'biodiversity' shows why invasions have recently generated great interest among conservationists. Many studies show that invasion numbers have increased drastically over the last five centuries, that this exponential increase is not levelling off, and that human activities are the only reason for the phenomenon. Many mechanisms are portr...