No saturation in the accumulation of alien species worldwide

Hanno Seebens (), Tim M. Blackburn, Ellie E. Dyer, Piero Genovesi, Philip E. Hulme, Jonathan M. Jeschke, Shyama Pagad, Petr Pyšek, Marten Winter, Margarita Arianoutsou, Sven Bacher, Bernd Blasius, Giuseppe Brundu, César Capinha, Laura Celesti-Grapow, Wayne Dawson, Stefan Dullinger, Nicol Fuentes, Heinke Jäger, John Kartesz, Marc Kenis, Holger Kreft, Ingolf Kühn, Bernd Lenzner, Andrew Liebhold, Alexander Mosena, Dietmar Moser, Misako Nishino, David Pearman, Jan Pergl, Wolfgang Rabitsch, Julissa Rojas-Sandoval, Alain Roques, Stephanie Rorke, Silvia Rossinelli, Helen E. Roy, Riccardo Scalera, Stefan Schindler, Kateřina Štajerová, Barbara Tokarska-Guzik, Mark van Kleunen, Kevin Walker, Patrick Weigelt, Takehiko Yamanaka and Franz Essl ()
Additional contact information
Hanno Seebens: Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F)
Tim M. Blackburn: Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, Evolution and Environment, University College London
Ellie E. Dyer: Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, Evolution and Environment, University College London
Piero Genovesi: Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA)
Philip E. Hulme: Bio-Protection Research Centre, Lincoln University
Jonathan M. Jeschke: Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB)
Shyama Pagad: IUCN Species Survival Commission Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG), University of Auckland
Petr Pyšek: Centre for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch University
Marten Winter: German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Margarita Arianoutsou: Faculty of Biology, School of Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Sven Bacher: University of Fribourg
Bernd Blasius: Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, University of Oldenburg
Giuseppe Brundu: University of Sassari
César Capinha: CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Cátedra Infraestruturas de Portugal-Biodiversidade, Universidade do Porto
Laura Celesti-Grapow: Sapienza University
Wayne Dawson: University of Konstanz
Stefan Dullinger: University of Vienna
Nicol Fuentes: Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de Concepción
Heinke Jäger: Charles Darwin Foundation, Puerto Ayora
John Kartesz: Biota of North America Program (BONAP)
Marc Kenis: CABI, Rue des Grillons 1
Holger Kreft: Macroecology and Biogeography, Georg-August-University Göttingen
Ingolf Kühn: German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Bernd Lenzner: University of Vienna
Andrew Liebhold: US Forest Service Northern Research Station
Alexander Mosena: Center for Interamerican Studies (CIAS), Bielefeld University
Dietmar Moser: University of Vienna
Misako Nishino: Biota of North America Program (BONAP)
David Pearman: Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI)
Jan Pergl: Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences
Wolfgang Rabitsch: Environment Agency Austria
Julissa Rojas-Sandoval: National Museum of Natural History, MRC-166 Smithsonian Institution
Alain Roques: Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)
Stephanie Rorke: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Silvia Rossinelli: University of Fribourg
Helen E. Roy: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Riccardo Scalera: IUCN Species Survival Commission Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG)
Stefan Schindler: University of Vienna
Kateřina Štajerová: Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences
Barbara Tokarska-Guzik: Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Silesia
Mark van Kleunen: University of Konstanz
Kevin Walker: Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI)
Patrick Weigelt: Macroecology and Biogeography, Georg-August-University Göttingen
Takehiko Yamanaka: Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, NARO (NIAES)
Franz Essl: University of Vienna

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Although research on human-mediated exchanges of species has substantially intensified during the last centuries, we know surprisingly little about temporal dynamics of alien species accumulations across regions and taxa. Using a novel database of 45,813 first records of 16,926 established alien species, we show that the annual rate of first records worldwide has increased during the last 200 years, with 37% of all first records reported most recently (1970–2014). Inter-continental and inter-taxonomic variation can be largely attributed to the diaspora of European settlers in the nineteenth century and to the acceleration in trade in the twentieth century. For all taxonomic groups, the increase in numbers of alien species does not show any sign of saturation and most taxa even show increases in the rate of first records over time. This highlights that past efforts to mitigate invasions have not been effective enough to keep up with increasing globalization.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14435

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