Université de Fribourg

Ranking alien species based on their risks of causing environmental impacts : A global assessment of alien ungulates

Volery, Lara ; Jatavallabhula, Divija ; Scillitani, Laura ; Bertolino, Sandro ; Bacher, Sven

In: Global Change Biology, 2021, vol. 27, no. 5, p. 1003-1016

For an efficient allocation of the limited resources to alien species management, the most damaging species should be prioritized. Comparing alien species based on their impacts is not straightforward, as the same species can cause different types and magnitudes of impacts when introduced to different contexts, making it difficult to summarize its overall impact. The Environmental Impact...

Université de Fribourg

Improving the Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT): a summary of revisions to the framework and guidelines

Volery, Lara ; Blackburn, Tim M. ; Bertolino, Sandro ; Evans, Thomas ; Genovesi, Piero ; Kumschick, Sabrina ; Roy, Helen E. ; Smith, Kevin G. ; Bacher, Sven

In: NeoBiota, 2020, vol. 62, p. 547–567

The Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT) classifies the impacts caused by alien species in their introduced range in standardised terms across taxa and recipient environments. Impacts are classified into one of five levels of severity, from Minimal Concern to Massive, via one of 12 impact mechanisms. Here, we explain revisions based on an IUCN-wide consultation process...

Université de Fribourg

Appropriate uses of EICAT protocol, data and classifications

Kumschick, Sabrina ; Bacher, Sven ; Bertolino, Sandro ; Blackburn, Tim M. ; Evans, Thomas ; Roy, Helen E. ; Smith, Kevin

In: NeoBiota, 2020, vol. 62, p. 193–212

The Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT) can be used to classify alien taxa according to the magnitude and type of their environmental impacts. The EICAT protocol, classifications of alien taxa using the protocol (EICAT classification) and the data underpinning classifications (EICAT data) are increasingly used by scientists and practitioners such as governments, NGOs...

Université de Fribourg

Projecting the continental accumulation of alien species through to 2050

Seebens, Hanno ; Bacher, Sven ; Blackburn, Tim M. ; Capinha, César ; Dawson, Wayne ; Dullinger, Stefan ; Genovesi, Piero ; Hulme, Philip E. ; Kleunen, Mark ; Kühn, Ingolf ; Jeschke, Jonathan M. ; Lenzner, Bernd ; Liebhold, Andrew M. ; Pattison, Zarah ; Pergl, Jan ; Pyšek, Petr ; Winter, Marten ; Essl, Franz

In: Global Change Biology, 2020, p. gcb.15333

Biological invasions have steadily increased over recent centuries. However, we still lack a clear expectation about future trends in alien species numbers. In particular, we do not know whether alien species will continue to accumulate in regional floras and faunas, or whether the pace of accumulation will decrease due to the depletion of native source pools. Here, we apply a new model to...

Université de Fribourg

Scientists’ warning on invasive alien species

Pyšek, Petr ; Hulme, Philip E. ; Simberloff, Dan ; Bacher, Sven ; Blackburn, Tim M. ; Carlton, James T. ; Dawson, Wayne ; Essl, Franz ; Foxcroft, Llewellyn C. ; Genovesi, Piero ; Jeschke, Jonathan M. ; Kühn, Ingolf ; Liebhold, Andrew M. ; Mandrak, Nicholas E. ; Meyerson, Laura A. ; Pauchard, Aníbal ; Pergl, Jan ; Roy, Helen E. ; Seebens, Hanno ; Kleunen, Mark ; Vilà, Montserrat ; Wingfield, Michael J. ; Richardson, David M.

In: Biological Reviews, 2020, p. brv.12627

Biological invasions are a global consequence of an increasingly connected world and the rise in human population size. The numbers of invasive alien species – the subset of alien species that spread widely in areas where they are not native, affecting the environment or human livelihoods – are increasing. Synergies with other global changes are exacerbating current invasions and...

Université de Fribourg

Functional similarity and dissimilarity facilitate alien plant invasiveness along biotic and abiotic gradients in an arid protected area

El-Barougy, Reham F. ; Elgamal, Ibrahim ; Rohr, Rudolf P. ; Probert, Anna F. ; Khedr, Abdel-Hamid A. ; Bacher, Sven

In: Biological Invasions, 2020, vol. 22, no. 6, p. 1997–2016

Two contradictory hypotheses have been put forth to forecast alien invasiveness: being either functionally similar, or dissimilar, to resident natives along environmental gradients. The ‘try-harder’ hypothesis predicts that alien plants will be functionally dissimilar to natives and should thus exhibit exaggerated trait values when compared to natives in respect to resource extraction or...

Université de Fribourg

Do invasive alien plants differ from non-invasives in dominance and nitrogen uptake in response to variation of abiotic and biotic environments under global anthropogenic change?

Liu, Yuan-Yuan ; Sun, Yan ; Müller-Schärer, Heinz ; Yan, Rong ; Zhou, Zhi-Xiang ; Wang, Yong-Jian ; Yu, Fei-Hai

In: Science of The Total Environment, 2019, vol. 672, p. 634–642

Plant invasion is the outcome of complicated interactions of both biotic and abiotic environments (i.e. eutrophication and human-induced propagules) under global anthropogenic change. Here, we want to know why some alien clonal plant species become invasive and others do not in the introduced range with variations of both abiotic and biotic environments under global anthropogenic change.We...

Université de Fribourg

The diversity of population responses to environmental change

Colchero, Fernando ; Jones, Owen R. ; Conde, Dalia A. ; Hodgson, David ; Zajitschek, Felix ; Schmidt, Benedikt R. ; Malo, Aurelio F. ; Alberts, Susan C. ; Becker, Peter H. ; Bouwhuis, Sandra ; Bronikowski, Anne M. ; Vleeschouwer, Kristel M. ; Delahay, Richard J. ; Dummermuth, Stefan ; Fernández‐Duque, Eduardo ; Frisenvænge, John ; Hesselsøe, Martin ; Larson, Sam ; Lemaître, Jean‐François ; McDonald, Jennifer ; Miller, David A.W. ; O'Donnell, Colin ; Packer, Craig ; Raboy, Becky E. ; Reading, Chris J. ; Wapstra, Erik ; Weimerskirch, Henri ; While, Geoffrey M. ; Baudisch, Annette ; Flatt, Thomas ; Coulson, Tim ; Gaillard, Jean‐Michel

In: Ecology Letters, 2019, p. -

The current extinction and climate change crises pressure us to predict population dynamics with ever‐greater accuracy. Although predictions rest on the well‐advanced theory of age‐structured populations, two key issues remain poorly explored. Specifically, how the age‐dependency in demographic rates and the year‐to‐year interactions between survival and fecundity affect...