Université de Fribourg

Comparing impacts of alien plants and animals in Europe using a standard scoring system

Kumschick, Sabrina ; Bacher, Sven ; Evans, Thomas ; Marková, Zuzana ; Pergl, Jan ; Pyšek, Petr ; Vaes-Petignat, Sibylle ; Veer, Gabriel van der ; Vilà, Montserrat ; Nentwig, Wolfgang

In: Journal of Applied Ecology, 2015, vol. 52, no. 3, p. 552–561

Alien species can change the recipient environment in various ways, and some of them cause considerable damage. Understanding such impacts is crucial to direct management actions. This study addresses the following questions: Is it possible to quantify impact across higher taxa in a comparative manner? Do impacts differ between taxonomic groups? How are environmental and socio-economic impacts...

Université de Fribourg

A generic impact-scoring system applied to alien mammals in Europe

Nentwig, Wolfgang ; Kühnel, Elfi ; Bacher, Sven

In: Conservation Biology, 2009///doi: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01289.x

We present a generic scoring system that compares the impact of alien species among members of large taxonomic groups. This scoring can be used to identify the most harmful alien species so that conservation measures to ameliorate their negative effects can be prioritized. For all alien mammals in Europe, we assessed impact reports as completely as possible. Impact was classified as either...