Journal
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
Volume 28, Issue 4, Pages 212-218Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE LONDON
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2012.10.010
Keywords
biodiversity; biological invasions; ecosystem processes; functional traits; weeds
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Funding
- Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic [RVO 67985939]
- Czech Science Foundation [P504/11/1028]
- institutional resources of Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic
- Praemium Academiae award from the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
- SCIEX (project ALIEN)
- Spanish Ministry of Science [CGL2009-7515, CSD2008-00040]
- Junta de Andalucia [RNM-4031]
- Swiss National Science Foundation (NCCR project 'Plant Survival')
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Quantitative assessments of alien plant impacts are essential to inform management to ensure that resources are prioritized against the most problematic species and that restoration targets the worst-affected ecosystem processes. Here, we present the first detailed critique of quantitative field studies of alien plant impacts and highlight biases in the biogeography and life form of the target species, the responses assessed, and the extent to which spatial variability is addressed. Observed impacts often fail to translate to ecosystem services or evidence of environmental degradation. The absence of overarching hypotheses regarding impacts has reduced the consistency of approaches worldwide and prevented the development of predictive tools. Future studies must ensure that the links between species traits, ecosystem stocks, and ecosystem flows, as well as ecosystem services, are explicitly defined.
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