scholarly journals Socioeconomic legacy yields an invasion debt

2010 ◽  
Vol 108 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franz Essl ◽  
Stefan Dullinger ◽  
Wolfgang Rabitsch ◽  
Philip E. Hulme ◽  
Karl Hülber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Invasions ◽  
Alien Species ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Species Introductions ◽  
Socioeconomic Drivers ◽  
Invasion Debt ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Terrestrial Insects ◽  
Taxonomic Groups

Globalization and economic growth are widely recognized as important drivers of biological invasions. Consequently, there is an increasing need for governments to address the role of international trade in their strategies to prevent species introductions. However, many of the most problematic alien species are not recent arrivals but were introduced several decades ago. Hence, current patterns of alien-species richness may better reflect historical rather than contemporary human activities, a phenomenon which might be called “invasion debt.” Here, we show that across 10 taxonomic groups (vascular plants, bryophytes, fungi, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, terrestrial insects, and aquatic invertebrates) in 28 European countries, current numbers of alien species established in the wild are indeed more closely related to indicators of socioeconomic activity from the year 1900 than to those from 2000, although the majority of species introductions occurred during the second half of the 20th century. The strength of the historical signal varies among taxonomic groups, with those possessing good capabilities for dispersal (birds, insects) more strongly associated with recent socioeconomic drivers. Nevertheless, our results suggest a considerable historical legacy for the majority of the taxa analyzed. The consequences of the current high levels of socioeconomic activity on the extent of biological invasions will thus probably not be completely realized until several decades into the future.

scholarly journals Multi-taxa inventory of naturalized species in Chile

NeoBiota ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 25-41
Author(s):  
Nicol Fuentes ◽  
Alicia Marticorena ◽  
Alfredo Saldaña ◽  
Viviane Jerez ◽  
Juan Carlos Ortiz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Invasions ◽  
Alien Species ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Cumulative Number ◽  
Plateau Phase ◽  
Biodiversity Indicators ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrates ◽  
Marine Habitats ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Positive Increment

Here we present a multi-taxa inventory of naturalized alien species recorded on continental Chile and adjacent marine habitats, including eight taxonomic groups. We identified 1,122 species. These comprise 790 vascular plants (terrestrial and aquatic); 31 nonvascular plants [Bryophyta (mosses), Marchantiophyta (liverworts) and Anthocerotophyta (hornworts)]; 18 marine and freshwater macro and micro algae; 71 fungi; 39 terrestrial vertebrates (amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds); 108 insects; 37 marine and freshwater invertebrates and vertebrates (6 polychaetes, 3 mollusks and 28 Pisces); and 28 terrestrial gastropods. For all taxonomic groups, naturalized species were found to mainly be distributed in regions with Mediterranean and temperate climates, with few at either extreme of the country. The invasion curves show that naturalized species first underwent a positive increment, followed by an apparent plateau phase, mainly in vascular plants, insects and vertebrates. In fungi, marine and freshwater macro and microalgae, vertebrates and invertebrates, the cumulative number of naturalized species increased sharply starting in the early 20th century; the lack of collections before 1900 is also evident. When considering naturalized species as a whole, this inventory highlights that the rate of new naturalizations consistently increased after 1950, especially for some taxonomic groups such as insects, fungi, and vascular plants. This multi-taxa inventory of naturalized species provides a platform for national reporting on biodiversity indicators and highlights areas where Chile must invest resources to manage biological invasions.

scholarly journals Capacity of countries to reduce biological invasions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Latombe ◽  
Hanno Seebens ◽  
Bernd Lenzner ◽  
Franck Courchamp ◽  
Stefan Dullinger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Invasions ◽  
Alien Species ◽  
Economic Space ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Management Measures ◽  
Ecological Predictors ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Education Innovation ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
High Level

AbstractThe extent and impacts of biological invasions on biodiversity are largely shaped by an array of socio-ecological predictors, which exhibit high variation among countries. Yet a global synthetic perspective of how these factors vary across countries is currently lacking. Here, we investigate how a set of five socio-ecological predictors (Governance, Trade, Environmental Performance, Lifestyle and Education, Innovation) explain i) country-level established alien species (EAS) richness of eight taxonomic groups, and ii) country capacity to prevent and manage biological invasions and their impacts. Trade and Governance together best predicted the average EAS richness, increasing variance explained by up to 54% compared to models based on climatic and spatial variables only. Country-level EAS richness increased strongly with Trade, whereas high level of Governance resulted in lower EAS richness. Historical (1996) levels of Governance and Trade better explained response variables than current (2015) levels. Thus, our results reveal a historical legacy of these two predictors with profound implications for the future of biological invasions. We therefore used Governance and Trade to define a two-dimensional socio-economic space in which the position of a country captures its capacity to address issues of biological invasions. Our results provide novel insights into the complex relationship between socio-ecological predictors and biological invasions. Further, we highlight the need for designing better policies and management measures for alien species, and for integrating biological invasions in global environmental scenarios.

scholarly journals The global spread and invasion capacities of alien ants

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark K. L. Wong ◽  
Evan P Economo ◽  
Benoit Guenard
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Biological Invasions ◽  
Alien Species ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Economic Impacts ◽  
Multistage Process ◽  
Species Introductions ◽  
Global Diversity ◽  
Global Spread ◽  
Blind Spots

The ecological and economic impacts of biological invasions are usually highly conspicuous, but these are the outcome of a global, multistage process that is obscured from view. For most taxa, we lack a large-scale picture of the movements of alien species, the biases and filters that promote or inhibit their spread at each stage, and blind spots in our ability to detect species during their spread. For instance, countries rely heavily on customs interceptions to prevent new species introductions, but their efficacy for detecting invaders remains unclear. To address these gaps, we synthesize and provide data at unprecedented geographic resolution on the global diversity and distribution of alien ants, a pervasive group strongly impacting humans and ecosystems. From >145,000 records spanning 602 regions, we identify 522 ant species exhibiting human-mediated spread, doubling recent estimates of their diversity. We show that movements of alien ant species across regions globally are non-random and, moreover, that these flows differ by the extents to which species invade—ranging from arrival to indoor establishment, naturalization, and harmful status. Importantly, we find that almost two-thirds of the 309 species that naturalize globally—most of which are ground- and litter-dwelling—are absent from customs interceptions, which record disproportionately high numbers of arboreal species. Our results illustrate the vast, yet uneven extent of ant invasions globally, and suggest that most alien species bypass biosecurity controls while spreading successfully worldwide. This raises doubts on the efficacy of current customs interceptions procedures and highlights a need for radically new approaches.

scholarly journals Biological invasions in brazilian environmental science courses: do we need new approaches?

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 221-238
Author(s):  
Erika Pereira Cordeiro de Melo ◽  
Juliana Simião-Ferreira ◽  
Herson Pereira Cordeiro de Melo ◽  
Bruno Spacek Godoy ◽  
Rodrigo Damasco Daud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Invasions ◽  
Alien Species ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Species Dispersal ◽  
Exotic Fish ◽  
The One ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Native Birds

The increasing destruction of natural environments worldwide favored more and more alien species’ dispersal, distancing people from nature and consequently from native species. We investigated undergrad students’ perception about alien and native Brazilian species evaluating classes of the first (freshmen) and last semesters (seniors) of four courses in environmental sciences in three institutions and assessed these students’ knowledge level in different aspects related to native and alien species. The 509 interviewees were able to identify Brazilian native species better than alien species. They also produced better identifications among taxonomic groups of mammals (either alien or native), native birds, and exotic fish compared to invertebrate species. Most students did not consider themselves well informed about the topic. We found an association between the courses/semesters attended and the level of knowledge of the students. Thus, we concluded that, on the one hand, the students demonstrated relevant knowledge about the native species but, on the other, presented deficiencies in invasive alien species’ knowledge. Therefore, we suggest the revision/restructuring of how the biological invasions theme is covered in the academic curricula of undergraduate courses in the environmental area.

scholarly journals Where we Come from and where to Go: Six Decades of Botanical Studies in the Mediterranean Wetlands, with Sardinia (Italy) as a Case Study

Wetlands ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alba Cuena-Lombraña ◽  
Mauro Fois ◽  
Annalena Cogoni ◽  
Gianluigi Bacchetta
Keyword(s):  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Temporary Ponds ◽  
Evolutionary Strategies ◽  
Plant Groups ◽  
Research Themes ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Water Saturated

AbstractPlants are key elements of wetlands due to their evolutionary strategies for coping with life in a water-saturated environment, providing the basis for supporting nearly all wetland biota and habitat structure for other taxonomic groups. Sardinia, the second largest island of the Mediterranean Basin, hosts a great variety of wetlands, of which 16 are included in eight Ramsar sites. The 119 hydro- and hygrophilous vascular plant taxa from Sardinia represent the 42.6% and 37.9% of the number estimated for Italy and Europe, respectively. Moreover, around 30% of Sardinia’s bryological flora, which is made up of 498 taxa, is present in temporary ponds. An overview at regional scale considering algae is not available, to our knowledge, even though several specific studies have contributed to their knowledge. In order to find the most investigated research themes and wetland types, identify knowledge gaps and suggest recommendations for further research, we present a first attempt to outline the work that has been hitherto done on plants in lentic habitats in Sardinia. Three plant groups (algae, bryophytes and vascular plants), and five research themes (conservation, ecology, inventory, palaeobotany and taxonomy) were considered. After a literature review, we retained 202 papers published from 1960 to 2019. We found that studies on vascular plants, as plant group, were disproportionately more numerous, and inventories and ecology were the most investigated research themes. Although efforts have recently been made to fill these long-lasting gaps, there is a need for updating the existing information through innovative methods and integrative approaches.

scholarly journals Transcriptome Changes in Pseudomonas putida KT2440 during Medium-Chain-Length Polyhydroxyalkanoate Synthesis Induced by Nitrogen Limitation

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 152
Author(s):  
Dorota Dabrowska ◽  
Justyna Mozejko-Ciesielska ◽  
Tomasz Pokój ◽  
Slawomir Ciesielski
Keyword(s):  
Chain Length ◽  
Nitrogen Limitation ◽  
Stringent Response ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Pseudomonas Putida Kt2440 ◽  
Medium Chain ◽  
Environmental Stimuli ◽  
Medium Chain Length ◽  
In The Wild

Pseudomonas putida’s versatility and metabolic flexibility make it an ideal biotechnological platform for producing valuable chemicals, such as medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates (mcl-PHAs), which are considered the next generation bioplastics. This bacterium responds to environmental stimuli by rearranging its metabolism to improve its fitness and increase its chances of survival in harsh environments. Mcl-PHAs play an important role in central metabolism, serving as a reservoir of carbon and energy. Due to the complexity of mcl-PHAs’ metabolism, the manner in which P. putida changes its transcriptome to favor mcl-PHA synthesis in response to environmental stimuli remains unclear. Therefore, our objective was to investigate how the P. putida KT2440 wild type and mutants adjust their transcriptomes to synthesize mcl-PHAs in response to nitrogen limitation when supplied with sodium gluconate as an external carbon source. We found that, under nitrogen limitation, mcl-PHA accumulation is significantly lower in the mutant deficient in the stringent response than in the wild type or the rpoN mutant. Transcriptome analysis revealed that, under N-limiting conditions, 24 genes were downregulated and 21 were upregulated that were common to all three strains. Additionally, potential regulators of these genes were identified: the global anaerobic regulator (Anr, consisting of FnrA, Fnrb, and FnrC), NorR, NasT, the sigma54-dependent transcriptional regulator, and the dual component NtrB/NtrC regulator all appear to play important roles in transcriptome rearrangement under N-limiting conditions. The role of these regulators in mcl-PHA synthesis is discussed.

scholarly journals Premating barriers in young sympatric snail species

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arina L. Maltseva ◽  
Marina A. Varfolomeeva ◽  
Arseniy A. Lobov ◽  
Polina O. Tikanova ◽  
Egor A. Repkin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Snail Species ◽  
Sympatric Populations ◽  
Gastropod Species ◽  
Shell Size ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Partial Canonical Correspondence Analysis ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Isolation Index

AbstractSympatric coexistence of recently diverged species raises the question of barriers restricting the gene flow between them. Reproductive isolation may be implemented at several levels, and the weakening of some, e.g. premating, barriers may require the strengthening of the others, e.g. postcopulatory ones. We analysed mating patterns and shell size of mates in recently diverged closely related species of the subgenus Littorina Neritrema (Littorinidae, Caenogastropoda) in order to assess the role of premating reproductive barriers between them. We compared mating frequencies observed in the wild with those expected based on relative densities using partial canonical correspondence analysis. We introduced the fidelity index (FI) to estimate the relative accuracy of mating with conspecific females and precopulatory isolation index (IPC) to characterize the strength of premating barriers. The species under study, with the exception of L. arcana, clearly demonstrated preferential mating with conspecifics. According to FI and IPC, L. fabalis and L. compressa appeared reliably isolated from their closest relatives within Neritrema. Individuals of these two species tend to be smaller than those of the others, highlighting the importance of shell size changes in gastropod species divergence. L. arcana males were often found in pairs with L. saxatilis females, and no interspecific size differences were revealed in this sibling species pair. We discuss the lack of discriminative mate choice in the sympatric populations of L. arcana and L. saxatilis, and possible additional mechanisms restricting gene flow between them.

scholarly journals Group size and aquatic vegetation modulates male preferences for female shoals in wild zebrafish, Danio rerio

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aditya Ghoshal ◽  
Anuradha Bhat
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Aquatic Vegetation ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Choice Test ◽  
Female Group ◽  
Aquatic Flora ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
The Individual

AbstractShoaling decisions in the wild are determined by a combination of innate preferences of the individual along with the interplay of multiple ecological factors. In their natural habitat as well as in the laboratory, zebrafish is a shoaling fish. Here, we investigate the role of group size and associated vegetation in shaping shoaling preferences of wild male zebrafish. We studied the association preference of males to groups of female shoals in a multi-choice test design. We found that males made greater proportion of visits to an 8-female group compared to 2 and 4-female groups. However, males spent similar proportions of time across the three female-containing groups. When artificial vegetation was incorporated along with female number as an additional factor, we found that males prefer high and moderately vegetated patches compared to low or no-vegetation groups, irrespective of the number of females in these patches. Based on experiments using a novel multi-choice design, our results show that preference for group size can change due to interaction of two separate factors. This work is a first attempt to understand the role of aquatic flora in determining shoaling preferences in zebrafish, using an experimental paradigm consisting of a gradation in female and vegetation densities.

scholarly journals Controlled Transcription of Regulator Gene carS by Tet-on or by a Strong Promoter Confirms Its Role as a Repressor of Carotenoid Biosynthesis in Fusarium fujikuroi

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Julia Marente ◽  
Javier Avalos ◽  
M. Carmen Limón
Keyword(s):  
Wild Strain ◽  
Ring Finger ◽  
Carotenoid Biosynthesis ◽  
Negative Regulator ◽  
Fusarium Fujikuroi ◽  
Structural Genes ◽  
Gene Encoding ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Set Up

Carotenoid biosynthesis is a frequent trait in fungi. In the ascomycete Fusarium fujikuroi, the synthesis of the carboxylic xanthophyll neurosporaxanthin (NX) is stimulated by light. However, the mutants of the carS gene, encoding a protein of the RING finger family, accumulate large NX amounts regardless of illumination, indicating the role of CarS as a negative regulator. To confirm CarS function, we used the Tet-on system to control carS expression in this fungus. The system was first set up with a reporter mluc gene, which showed a positive correlation between the inducer doxycycline and luminescence. Once the system was improved, the carS gene was expressed using Tet-on in the wild strain and in a carS mutant. In both cases, increased carS transcription provoked a downregulation of the structural genes of the pathway and albino phenotypes even under light. Similarly, when the carS gene was constitutively overexpressed under the control of a gpdA promoter, total downregulation of the NX pathway was observed. The results confirmed the role of CarS as a repressor of carotenogenesis in F. fujikuroi and revealed that its expression must be regulated in the wild strain to allow appropriate NX biosynthesis in response to illumination.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document