Defining invasive species and demonstrating impacts of biological invasions: a scientometric analysis of studies on invasive alien plants in Brazil over the past 20 years

Despite biological invasions being widely recognised as an important driver of environmental change, lack of consensus regarding the definition of invasive alien species (IAS) and vagueness around the demonstra-tion of their impacts limits knowledge and research in this field. In this study, a scientometric approach was used to analyse academic documents published between 2002 and 2021 in three databases with refer-ence to invasive alien plants in Brazil. Despite the growing body of scientific literature in the area, only 10% of the publications provided some definition of invasive species. Of the 398 publications analysed, 23.6% found some type of damage caused by the invader and, of these, only 5% addressed economic or social damage. Only 17% of the publications proposed a method for controlling and/or mitigating bio-logical invasions. The absence of clear terminology and the lack of focus on impacts limits understanding of IAS of plants in Brazil. Based on the present findings, future studies on IAS of plants should move towards a consensus on the definition of biological invasion, as well as understand the impact caused by these species. In addition, it is recommended that further scientometric studies should guide future efforts to support objective measures for management and decision-making.

Automated summary

Despite the growing body of scientific literature on invasive alien plants in Brazil, there is only 10% providing a definition of invasive species, and lacking verification on impacts, economic or social damages, as well as methods for controlling and mitigating biological invasions. The lack of clear terminology and focus on impacts limits the understanding of IAS of plants in Brazil.