Progress in invasion biology: predicting invaders

Predicting which species are probable invaders has been a long-standing goal of ecologists, but only recently have quantitative methods been used to achieve such a goal. Although restricted to few taxa, these studies reveal clear relationships between the characteristics of releases and the species...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in Ecology & Evolution 2001-04, Vol.16 (4), p.199-204
Main Authors: Kolar, Cynthia S., Lodge, David M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied ecology
Biological and medical sciences
biological invasion
Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife
Environmental degradation: ecosystems survey and restoration
exotic species
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
nonindigenous species
prediction
species characteristics
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Summary:Predicting which species are probable invaders has been a long-standing goal of ecologists, but only recently have quantitative methods been used to achieve such a goal. Although restricted to few taxa, these studies reveal clear relationships between the characteristics of releases and the species involved, and the successful establishment and spread of invaders. For example, the probability of bird establishment increases with the number of individuals released and the number of release events. Also, the probability of plant invasiveness increases if the species has a history of invasion and reproduces vegetatively. These promising quantitative approaches should be more widely applied to allow us to predict patterns of invading species more successfully.
ISSN:0169-5347
1872-8383
DOI:10.1016/S0169-5347(01)02101-2