Original title: No saturation in the accumulation of alien species worldwide
Researchers gathered records of when establishedPresent in a new area as a lasting population, rather than appearing only briefly. alien speciesA species recorded in a place outside the area where it naturally occurs. were first reported in places where they did not naturally occur. They found that the worldwide rate of first records has risen over the last 200 years, and the rise shows no sign of slowing. The pattern differs across regions and kinds of species, partly linked to European settlement in the nineteenth century and faster trade in the twentieth. The authors say efforts to limit invasions have not kept pace with globalization.
Imagine keeping track of new foods arriving in your town. At first, each year brings a few unfamiliar dishes; later, travel and trade bring them faster, and the list keeps growing. In this paper, the dishes stand for established species arriving in new places, and the growing list stands for their first records. The key finding is that the list shows no sign of filling up.
People, trade and travel move species across natural boundaries, where some become established. The continued rise in new records suggests that efforts to limit biological invasions have not kept pace with globalization, leaving ecosystems and the people who depend on them exposed to ongoing change.
The abstract reports patterns in first records and links regional and taxonomic differences largely to settlement and trade. It does not specify how complete the records are, test the causes in detail, or establish how future rates will change. It also does not quantify the effects of these species on particular ecosystems or people.
Ask anything about this paper. Answers come from its abstract, and say so when the abstract doesn't cover your question.
No saturation in the accumulation of alien species worldwide — Hanno Seebens, Tim M. Blackburn, Ellie E. Dyer et al. — Nature Communications — doi:10.1038/ncomms14435
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.