Marine protected areas (MPAs) have proven to be an effective tool to conserve marine biodiversity and restore ecosystem functioning. Yet, the role of MPAs in providing resilience to global threats, such as biological invasions, is poorly understood. Assessing the effects of MPAs on invasive species is crucial for effective MPA planning and management. We conducted a peer-reviewed literature sur...

In the framework of the European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN; http://easin.jrc.ec.europa.eu/), an inventory of marine alien species in Europe was created by critically reviewing existing information in 34 global, European, regional and national databases. In total, 1369 marine alien species have been reported in the European seas (including 110 cryptogenic and 139 questionable spec...

There is an increasing understanding and requirement to take into account the effects of invasive alien species (IAS) in environmental quality assessments. While IAS are listed amongst the most important factors threatening marine biodiversity, information on their impacts remains unquantified, especially for phytoplankton species. This study attempts to assess the impacts of invasive alien phy...

First, a geographical barrier must be overcome, which often occurs as a mountain range, ocean, or similar physical barrier to movement of seeds and other reproductive plant parts. Plants that overcome geographical barriers are known as alien plants or alien species. Alien plants are non-native plants and alien species are nonnative species. Therefore, non-native plants are those that occur outs...

The European Commission recently published its long-awaited draft legislation on invasive alien species (1). The proposed regulation implements a key target of the European Union Biodiversity Strategy (2), aiming to bring EU policy in line with the Convention on Biological Diversity targets for 2020, which obliges signatories to identify and prioritize invasive alien species and their pathways ...

Apis mellifera L. is a generalist pollinator present in most of the Canary Islands. When foraging, honeybees transfer pollen grains to honey, and presence and abundance of pollen from different species can be interpreted as a sign of local flora, and a cue to spread of aliens. The relative use of alien vs native species by honeybees could influence island pollination mutualisms and/or favour al...

Exotic species have often been introduced into a new country in zoological or botanical gardens or on game and fur farms. When accidentally or deliberately released, these alien species can become invasive and have negative impacts on native plant and animal communities and human activities. This article focuses on a selection of such invasive species: principally the American mink (Neovison vi...

Native biodiversity on the Galapagos Archipelago is severely threatened by invasive alien species. On Santa Cruz Island, the abundance of introduced plant species is low in the arid lowlands of the Galapagos National Park, but increases with elevation into unprotected humid highlands. Two common alien plant species, guava (Psidium guajava) and passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) occur at higher e...

Keywords: Linepithema humile Urban–rural gradient Biological invasions Urban ecology Biodiversity a b s t r a c t Urban habitats are undergoing a faunal and floral homogenization process worldwide. We investigated how such homogenization influences ant communities. We monitored ant species richness and abundance in natural, semi-natural, urban, and agricultural habitats for one year, along an u...

Herbert Baker arguably initiated the search for species characteristics determining alien plant invasion success, with his formulation of the 'ideal weed'. Today, a profusion of studies has tested a myriad of traits for their importance in explaining success of alien plants, but the multiple, not always appropriate, approaches used have led to some confusion and criticism. We argue that a great...