The worldwide networks of spread of recorded alien species.

Our ability to predict the spread of alien species is largely based on knowledge of previous invasion dynamics of individual species. However, in view of the large and growing number of alien species, understanding universal spread patterns common among taxa but specific to regions would considerably improve our ability to predict future dynamics of biological invasions. Here, using a comprehensive dataset of years of first record of alien species for four major biological groups (birds, nonmarine fishes, insects, and vascular plants), we applied a network approach to uncover frequent sequential patterns of first recordings of alien species across countries worldwide. Our analysis identified a few countries as consistent early recorders of alien species, with many subsequent records reported from countries in close geographic vicinity. These findings indicate that the spread network of alien species consists of two levels, a backbone of main dispersal hubs, driving intercontinental species movement, and subsequent intracontinental radiative spread in their vicinity. Geographical proximity and climatic similarity were significant predictors of same-species recording among countries. International trade was a significant predictor of the relative timing of species recordings, with countries having higher levels of trade flows consistently recording the species earlier. Targeting the countries that have emerged as hubs for the early spread of alien species may have substantial cascading effects on the global spread network of alien species, significantly reducing biological invasions. Furthermore, using these countries as early-warning system of upcoming invasions may also boost national prevention and invasion preparedness efforts.

Global introductions and environmental impacts of freshwater megafish.

Freshwater megafish species, such as sturgeons, salmonids, carps, and catfishes, have a maximum reported weight ≥30 kg. Due to their charisma and economic value, they have been widely introduced outside of their native ranges. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of the introduction of freshwater megafish and an assessment of their environmental impacts. Of the 134 extant freshwater megafish species, 46% have been introduced to new environments, and of these, 69% have established self-sustaining alien populations. These introductions affect 59% of the world's main basins, with the USA and western Europe being particular hotspots of megafish introductions. The common carp (Cyprinus carpio) is the most widely introduced species. Using the Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT and EICAT+) frameworks, we assessed the severity and type of negative and positive impacts posed by alien megafish on native species. Alien megafish caused negative impacts through nine different mechanisms, with predation being the most frequently reported mechanism, followed by herbivory and competition. Moreover, 58% of the alien megafish species with sufficient data to evaluate the severity of their impacts caused declining populations of native species, or worse, extirpations of native species populations. The positive environmental impacts of alien megafish were far less frequently documented. They include biotic interactions that benefit native species, and the provision of trophic resources or habitats. Widely introduced or extensively studied species are more likely to have documented severe impacts on native species. There is a clear trade-off between the economic benefits associated with megafish introductions and the severe adverse impacts they have on native biodiversity. Our study highlights the need for comprehensive risk assessments to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of megafish. More research and long-term monitoring schemes are required to inform management actions to protect biodiversity, particularly in the Global South.

Piecing the barcoding puzzle of Palearctic water frogs (Pelophylax) sheds light on amphibian biogeography and global invasions.

Palearctic water frogs (genus Pelophylax) are an outstanding model in ecology and evolution, being widespread, speciose, either threatened or threatening to other species through biological invasions, and capable of siring hybrid offspring that escape the rules of sexual reproduction. Despite half a century of genetic research and hundreds of publications, the diversity, systematics and biogeography of Pelophylax still remain highly confusing, in no small part due to a lack of correspondence between studies. To provide a comprehensive overview, we gathered >13,000 sequences of barcoding genes from >1700 native and introduced localities and built multigene mitochondrial (~17 kb) and nuclear (~10 kb) phylogenies. We mapped all currently recognized taxa and their phylogeographic lineages (>40) to get a grasp on taxonomic issues, cyto-nuclear discordances, the genetic makeup of hybridogenetic hybrids, and the origins of introduced populations. Competing hypotheses for the molecular calibration were evaluated through plausibility tests, implementing a new approach relying on predictions from the anuran speciation continuum. Based on our timetree, we propose a new biogeographic paradigm for the Palearctic since the Paleogene, notably by attributing a prominent role to the dynamics of the Paratethys, a vast paleo-sea that extended over most of Europe. Furthermore, our results show that distinct marsh frog lineages from Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Near East, and Central Asia (P. ridibundus ssp.) are naturally capable of inducing hybridogenesis with pool frogs (P. lessonae). We identified 14 alien lineages (mostly of P. ridibundus) over ~20 areas of invasions, especially in Western Europe, with genetic signatures disproportionally pointing to the Balkans and Anatolia as the regions of origins, in line with exporting records of the frog leg industry and the stocks of pet sellers. Pelophylax thus emerges as one of the most invasive amphibians worldwide, and deserves much higher conservation concern than currently given by the authorities fighting biological invasions.

Forecasting potential invaders to prevent future biological invasions worldwide.

The ever-increasing and expanding globalisation of trade and transport underpins the escalating global problem of biological invasions. Developing biosecurity infrastructures is crucial to anticipate and prevent the transport and introduction of invasive alien species. Still, robust and defensible forecasts of potential invaders are rare, especially for species without known invasion history. Here, we aim to support decision-making by developing a quantitative invasion risk assessment tool based on invasion syndromes (i.e., generalising typical attributes of invasive alien species). We implemented a workflow based on 'Multiple Imputation with Chain Equation' to estimate invasion syndromes from imputed datasets of species' life-history and ecological traits and macroecological patterns. Importantly, our models disentangle the factors explaining (i) transport and introduction and (ii) establishment. We showcase our tool by modelling the invasion syndromes of 466 amphibians and reptile species with invasion history. Then, we project these models to amphibians and reptiles worldwide (16,236 species [c.76% global coverage]) to identify species with a risk of being unintentionally transported and introduced, and risk of establishing alien populations. Our invasion syndrome models showed high predictive accuracy with a good balance between specificity and generality. Unintentionally transported and introduced species tend to be common and thrive well in human-disturbed habitats. In contrast, those with established alien populations tend to be large-sized, are habitat generalists, thrive well in human-disturbed habitats, and have large native geographic ranges. We forecast that 160 amphibians and reptiles without known invasion history could be unintentionally transported and introduced in the future. Among them, 57 species have a high risk of establishing alien populations. Our reliable, reproducible, transferable, statistically robust and scientifically defensible quantitative invasion risk assessment tool is a significant new addition to the suite of decision-support tools needed for developing a future-proof preventative biosecurity globally.

Adaptation to bioinvasions: When does it occur?

The presence of alien species represents a major cause of habitat degradation and biodiversity loss worldwide, constituting a critical environmental challenge of our time. Despite sometimes experiencing reduced propagule pressure, leading to a reduced genetic diversity and an increased chance of inbreeding depression, alien invaders are often able to thrive in the habitats of introduction, giving rise to the so-called "genetic paradox" of biological invasions. The adaptation of alien species to the new habitats is therefore a complex aspect of biological invasions, encompassing genetic, epigenetic, and ecological processes. Albeit numerous studies and reviews investigated the mechanistic foundation of the invaders' success, and aimed to solve the genetic paradox, still remains a crucial oversight regarding the temporal context in which adaptation takes place. Given the profound knowledge and management implications, this neglected aspect of invasion biology should receive more attention when examining invaders' ability to thrive in the habitats of introduction. Here, we discuss the adaptation mechanisms exhibited by alien species with the purpose of highlighting the timing of their occurrence during the invasion process. We analyze each stage of the invasion separately, providing evidence that adaptation mechanisms play a role in all of them. However, these mechanisms vary across the different stages of invasion, and are also influenced by other factors, such as the transport speed, the reproduction type of the invader, and the presence of human interventions. Finally, we provide insights into the implications for management, and identify knowledge gaps, suggesting avenues for future research that can shed light on species adaptability. This, in turn, will contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of biological invasions.

Food web collapse and regime shift following goldfish introduction in permanent ponds.

In a global context of invasive alien species (IAS), native predators are often eradicated by functionally different IAS, which may induce complex cascading consequences on ecosystem functioning because of the key role predators play in structuring communities and stabilizing food webs. In permanent ponds, the most abundant freshwater systems on Earth, global human-mediated introductions of alien omnivores such as the pet trade goldfish are driving broad-scale patterns of native predators' exclusion, but cascading consequences on food web structure and functioning are critically understudied. We compared food webs of naturally fishless ponds versus ponds where dominant native predators (newts) had been extirpated by invasive goldfish within the last decade. Integrating community-wide isotopic, taxonomic and functional traits approaches, our study reveals that pond food webs collapsed in both vertical and horizontal dimensions following goldfish introduction and the associated exclusion of native predators. Consumer taxonomic diversity was drastically reduced, essentially deprived of amphibians as well as predatory and mobile macroinvertebrates to the profit of burrowing, lower trophic level consumers (detritivores). Changes in community structure and function underlined a regime shift from a macrophyte-dominated system mainly characterized by benthic primary production (periphyton), to a macrophyte-depleted state of ponds hosting communities mainly associated with phytoplankton primary production and detritus accumulation, with higher tolerance to eutrophication and low dissolved oxygen concentration. Results underline major impacts of widely introduced omnivores such as the goldfish on the functioning of pond ecosystems with potentially dramatic consequences on the key ecosystem services they deliver, such as global biodiversity support or water quality improvement. They also shed light on the key role of submerged aquatic vegetation in supporting diverse communities and complex food webs in shallow lentic systems and call for urgent consideration of threats posed by IAS on ponds' ecosystems by managers and policymakers.

Public perception and acceptance of coypu Myocastor coypus removal in urban areas: influences of age and education.

Monitoring and management of alien coypu (Myocastor coypus) is a key issue in Europe since this species has been included in the EU Invasive Alien Species Regulation 1143/2014. Thus, controlling the population of this rodent is considered as imperative by wildlife managers. Coypu management in urban areas is crucial considering potential conflicts with human activities. The aim of this study is to investigate citizens' knowledge, perceptions and opinions towards the presence and management of coypu in a case study in Central Italy (the Serravalle urban park, Tuscany). The survey was administered to a subset of municipal residents and garnered responses from 281 park visitors. The outcomes showed a high level of knowledge of respondents: 99.3% of total respondents had heard of coypu before this survey, and 93.9% were able to distinguish the coypu from the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber). Despite the importance of coypu control in invaded countries, our results highlight that most respondents are against the removal of coypu, with the exception of most young, highly-educated and upperclass men, but favouring sterilization over capture and population control. Findings of this study could assist managers in enhancing the efficacy of management efforts via an information initiative involving the general public. Achieving this goal may entail improved communication by wildlife managers, which is imperative for optimizing management strategies regarding alien species.

Nesting biology and nest structure of the exotic bee Megachile sculpturalis.

From the 1990s, the Southeast Asia native giant resin bee Megachile sculpturalis (Smith, 1853) was introduced first to North America, and then to many countries in Europe. Despite increasing studies on its invasive potential and geographical expansion, information on nesting behaviour of this species is still extremely scarce. To increase knowledge on the nesting biology of M. sculpturalis, we studied multiple aspects of nesting and pollen provisioning in three consecutive years in artificial nests in Bologna, Italy. We observed 166 bees visiting nests, and followed individual nesting behaviour and success of 41 adult females. We measured cavity diameter in 552 nests and characterised the structure in 100 of them. More than 95% of nest diameters ranged between 0.6 and 1.2 cm, overlapping with several sympatric species of cavity-nesting hymenopterans in the study area. Most nests had a first chamber from the entrance of variable length without brood, followed by an average of about two brood cells with a mean length of 2.85 ± 0.13 cm each. The pollen stored in brood cells was almost monofloral, belonging to the ornamental plant Styphnolobium japonicum (L.) Schott. We estimated that a single female should visit ≈180 flowers to collect enough pollen for a single brood cell. These results fill knowledge gaps on the nesting biology and nest structure of the exotic M. sculpturalis, and they are discussed in relation to possible competition with native bees for nesting sites and foraging resources.

Toxoplasma gondii infection in European brown hares (Lepus europaeus) in Brazil.

Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide zoonosis that affects warm-blooded animals, including humans. Wild animals can act as intermediate hosts of this pathogen; thus, this study aims to detect Toxoplasma gondii infection in invasive European brown hares in Brazil. For this, 72 wild European brown hares were captured from July 2020 to June 2022 in three Brazilian states: São Paulo, Paraná, and Rio Grande do Sul. The diagnostic of Toxoplasma gondii infection was performed by bioassay in mouse, histopathology in Hematoxylin-Eosin-stained tissue sections (brain, liver, lungs, kidneys, and small intestine), serology by IFAT, and molecular techniques by conventional PCR and qPCR. The combined prevalence of the different diagnostic methods was 51.4% (37/72, CI= 40.1 - 62.6 %), and there was no statistical difference between sexes, age range, or geographical region of the hosts. Mouse bioassay was the technique that detected more positive hares. To our knowledge, this is the first confirmation of Toxoplasma gondii infection in invasive European brown hares in Brazil. These animals act as reservoirs and potential infection source for carnivores and other wild and domestic animals, including humans, thus contributing to perpetuate the disease cycle in São Paulo, Paraná, and Rio Grande do Sul States. Research such as the present study is necessary to raise awareness about the role of animals in the disease cycle.

Reptile Identification for Endemic and Invasive Alien Species Using Transfer Learning Approaches.

The Canary Islands are considered a hotspot of biodiversity and have high levels of endemicity, including endemic reptile species. Nowadays, some invasive alien species of reptiles are proliferating with no control in different parts of the territory, creating a dangerous situation for the ecosystems of this archipelago. Despite the fact that the regional authorities have initiated actions to try to control the proliferation of invasive species, the problem has not been solved as it depends on sporadic sightings, and it is impossible to determine when these species appear. Since no studies for automatically identifying certain species of reptiles endemic to the Canary Islands have been found in the current state-of-the-art, from the Signals and Communications Department of the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria University (ULPGC), we consider the possibility of developing a detection system based on automatic species recognition using deep learning (DL) techniques. So this research conducts an initial identification study of some species of interest by implementing different neural network models based on transfer learning approaches. This study concludes with a comparison in which the best performance is achieved by integrating the EfficientNetV2B3 base model, which has a mean Accuracy of 98.75%.

Invading new climates at what cost? Ontogenetic differences in the thermal dependence of metabolic rate in an invasive amphibian.

Global warming can either promote or constrain the invasive potential of alien species. In ectotherm invaders that exhibit a complex life cycle, success is inherently dependent on the capacity of each developmental stage to cope with environmental change. This is particularly relevant for invasive anurans, which disperse on land while requiring water for reproduction. However, it remains unknown how the different life stages respond in terms of energy expenditure under different climate change scenarios. We here quantified the oxygen uptake of frogs at rest (a proxy of the standard metabolic rate) in the aquatic phase (at the tadpole and climax, i.e. during metamorphosis, stages) and in the terrestrial phase (metamorphosed stage) at three environmental temperatures. To do so, we used marsh frogs (Pelophylax ridibundus), an amphibian with the largest invasive range within the palearctic realm and for which their adaptation to global warming might be key to their invasion success. Beyond an increase of metabolic rate with temperature, our data show variation in thermal adaptation across life stages and a higher metabolic cost during metamorphosis. These results suggest that the cost to shift habitat and face changes in temperature may be a constraint on the invasive potential of species with a complex life cycle which may be particularly vulnerable during metamorphosis.

Diversity in invasive species management networks.

Effective management of invasive species requires collaboration across a range of stakeholders. These stakeholders exhibit diverse attributes such as organisation types, operational scale, objectives, and roles within projects. Identifying the diverse attributes of stakeholders is beneficial for increasing collaboration success while minimising potential conflicts among multiple stakeholders when managing invasive species across landscapes. Despite the increasing number of studies on connections among stakeholders, there is little understanding of the diverse attributes of stakeholders involved in invasive species management. This is a notable gap because the diversity of stakeholders is one of the significant factors that can influence collaboration success. To bridge this knowledge gap, we used a social network approach to identify the attributes of stakeholders that influence their participation in collaborations using a case study of invasive wild pig (Sus scrofa) management in Queensland, Australia. Our findings suggest that even though the overall stakeholder network was diverse, the stakeholder network at the project level exhibited a lack of diversity on average, particularly regarding the scale of operation and type of organisation. In other words, stakeholders are highly likely to form ties in projects involving other stakeholders from similar types of organisations or operational scales. We suggest that targeting a greater diversity of stakeholders across types of organisations and scales of operations might enhance the success of collaborative invasive species management.

Containing alien plants in coastal dunes: Evidence from a soil manipulation experiment.

Biological invasion is recognised as one of the major threats to biodiversity, particularly in disturbance-prone ecosystems such as costal dunes. Many studies have associated alien plant invasion of dune ecosystem to human disturbances, but less is known about the role of soil properties in invasion after disturbance. Soil properties are crucial filters during plant succession and soil-related changes in the initial stage of species colonization might shape the final success of the invaders. We performed a manipulative experiment aimed at elucidating the effects of soil properties on plant colonization processes in highly invaded dune systems, as a proxy for plausible management actions to curb the success of exotic plant species over native ones, which was measured through species richness and abundance. In a barrier island of the Marano and Grado lagoon, Northern Adriatic Sea, we mechanically removed all the native and alien vegetation present in the back dune (also known as secondary dune), triggering a new ecological succession and further altered, for the following three months, soil properties by adding salt, nitrogen, and organic matter in a full factorial design with randomized blocks. The soil treatments reduced the overall species richness and abundance of alien plants. Further, soil treatment interactions strongly shaped community evenness and species richness. Soil salinity had a positive effect on native cover while decreasing the overall number of alien species, especially in soil with added organic matter. Our findings suggest that soil salinity, and its interplay with organic matter, might significantly reduce the initial success of alien species propagule pressure (i.e. alien plant germination), with likely implications for the trajectories of future plant communities. This study highlights that alien plant containment should be focused on early stages of succession, giving new perspective on future environmental management actions for dune restoration and conservation.

Fire suppression and land-use strategies drive future dynamics of an invasive plant in a fire-prone mountain area under climate change.

Woody invasive alien species can have profound impacts on ecosystem processes and functions, including fire regulation, which can significantly affect landscape resilience. Acacia dealbata, a widespread invasive alien plant in the Iberian Peninsula, holds well-known fire-adaptation traits (e.g., massive soil seed banks and heat-stimulated seed germination). In this study, we assess to what extent fire suppression and land-use strategies could affect the potential distribution of A. dealbata in a fire-prone transboundary protected mountain area of Portugal and Spain, using Habitat Suitability Models. Specifically, we predicted changes in habitat suitability for A. dealbata between years 2010 and 2050. We explored the potential impacts of two land-use strategies ('Business-as-usual' or 'High Nature Value farmlands') combined with three levels of fire suppression effectiveness using the biomod2 package in R. We also considered the potential effects of two climate change scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). Our modeling approach demonstrated a strong capacity to predict habitat suitability using either climate or land-cover information alone (AUC climate = 0.947; AUC LC = 0.957). According to climate-based models, A. dealbata thrives under conditions characterized by higher precipitation seasonality, higher precipitation in the warmest month, and higher minimum temperature in the coldest month. Regarding land cover, A. dealbata thrives mainly in landscapes dominated by urban areas and evergreen forest plantations. Our models forecasted that habitat suitability by 2050 could either increase or decrease depending on the specific combinations of fire suppression, land-use, and climate scenarios. Thus, a combination of business-as-usual and fire-exclusion strategies would enhance habitat suitability for the species. Conversely, management promoting High Nature Value farmlands would decrease the available suitable habitat, particularly under low fire suppression efforts. These findings suggest that promoting sustainable farming activities could impede the spread of A. dealbata by reducing habitat availability, while strategies aiming at fire-exclusion could facilitate its expansion, likely by enabling establishment and large seed production. This study highlights the complex interplay between fire-prone invasive species, fire and land-use strategies, and climate change; and thus the need to consider the interactions between land-use and fire management to promote invasive species control and landscape resilience.

Long-term trajectories of non-native vegetation on islands globally.

Human-mediated changes in island vegetation are, among others, largely caused by the introduction and establishment of non-native species. However, data on past changes in non-native plant species abundance that predate historical documentation and censuses are scarce. Islands are among the few places where we can track human arrival in natural systems allowing us to reveal changes in vegetation dynamics with the arrival of non-native species. We matched fossil pollen data with botanical status information (native, non-native), and quantified the timing, trajectories and magnitude of non-native plant vegetational change on 29 islands over the past 5000 years. We recorded a proportional increase in pollen of non-native plant taxa within the last 1000 years. Individual island trajectories are context-dependent and linked to island settlement histories. Our data show that non-native plant introductions have a longer and more dynamic history than is generally recognized, with critical implications for biodiversity baselines and invasion biology.

Testing for adaptive changes linked to range expansion following a single introduction of the fall webworm.

Adaptive evolution following colonization can affect the impact of invasive species. The fall webworm (FWW) invaded China 40 years ago through a single introduction event involving a severe bottleneck and subsequently diverged into two genetic groups. The well-recorded invasion history of FWW, coupled with a clear pattern of genetic divergence, provides an opportunity to investigate whether there is any sign of adaptive evolution following the invasion. Based on genome-wide SNPs, we identified genetically separated western and eastern groups of FWW and correlated spatial variation in SNPs with geographical and climatic factors. Geographical factors explained a similar proportion of the genetic variation across all populations compared with climatic factors. However, when the two population groups were analysed separately, environmental factors explained more variation than geographical factors. SNP outliers in populations of the western group had relatively stronger response to precipitation than temperature-related variables. Functional annotation of SNP outliers identified genes associated with insect cuticle protein potentially related to desiccation adaptation in the western group and genes associated with lipase biosynthesis potentially related to temperature adaptation in the eastern group. Our study suggests that invasive species may maintain the evolutionary potential to adapt to heterogeneous environments despite a single invasion event. The molecular data suggest that quantitative trait comparisons across environments would be worthwhile.

Towards understanding insect species introduction and establishment: A community-level barcoding approach using island beetles.

Since Darwin put forward his opposing hypotheses to explain the successful establishment of species in areas outside their native ranges, the preadaptation and competition-relatedness hypotheses, known as Darwin's naturalization conundrum, numerous studies have sought to understand the relative importance of each. Here, we take advantage of well-characterized beetle communities across laurel forests of the Canary Islands for a first evaluation of the relative support for Darwin's two hypotheses within arthropods. We generated a mitogenome backbone tree comprising nearly half of the beetle genera recorded within the Canary Islands for the phylogenetic placement of native and introduced species sampled in laurel forests, using cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) sequences. For comparative purposes, we also assembled and phylogenetically placed a data set of COI sequences for introduced beetle species that were not sampled within laurel forests. Our results suggest a stronger effect of species preadaptation over resource competition, while also revealing an underappreciated shortfall in arthropod biodiversity data-knowledge of species as being native or introduced. We name this the Humboldtean shortfall and suggest that similar studies using arthropods should incorporate DNA barcode sequencing to mitigate this problem.

Different facets of the same niche: Integrating citizen science and scientific survey data to predict biological invasion risk under multiple global change drivers.

Citizen science initiatives have been increasingly used by researchers as a source of occurrence data to model the distribution of alien species. Since citizen science presence-only data suffer from some fundamental issues, efforts have been made to combine these data with those provided by scientifically structured surveys. Surprisingly, only a few studies proposing data integration evaluated the contribution of this process to the effective sampling of species' environmental niches and, consequently, its effect on model predictions on new time intervals. We relied on niche overlap analyses, machine learning classification algorithms and ecological niche models to compare the ability of data from citizen science and scientific surveys, along with their integration, in capturing the realized niche of 13 invasive alien species in Italy. Moreover, we assessed differences in current and future invasion risk predicted by each data set under multiple global change scenarios. We showed that data from citizen science and scientific surveys captured similar species niches though highlighting exclusive portions associated with clearly identifiable environmental conditions. In terrestrial species, citizen science data granted the highest gain in environmental space to the pooled niches, determining an increased future biological invasion risk. A few aquatic species modelled at the regional scale reported a net loss in the pooled niches compared to their scientific survey niches, suggesting that citizen science data may also lead to contraction in pooled niches. For these species, models predicted a lower future biological invasion risk. These findings indicate that citizen science data may represent a valuable contribution to predicting future spread of invasive alien species, especially within national-scale programmes. At the same time, citizen science data collected on species poorly known to citizen scientists, or in strictly local contexts, may strongly affect the niche quantification of these taxa and the prediction of their future biological invasion risk.

Patterns and drivers of climatic niche dynamics during biological invasions of island-endemic amphibians, reptiles, and birds.

Shifts between native and alien climatic niches pose a major challenge for predicting biological invasions. This is particularly true for insular species because geophysical barriers could constrain the realization of their fundamental niches, which may lead to underestimates of their invasion potential. To investigate this idea, we estimated the frequency of shifts between native and alien climatic niches and the magnitude of climatic mismatches using 80,148 alien occurrences of 46 endemic insular amphibian, reptile, and bird species. Then, we assessed the influence of nine potential predictors on climatic mismatches across taxa, based on species' characteristics, native range physical characteristics, and alien range properties. We found that climatic mismatch is common during invasions of endemic insular birds and reptiles: 78.3% and 55.1% of their respective alien records occurred outside of the environmental space of species' native climatic niche. In comparison, climatic mismatch was evident for only 16.2% of the amphibian invasions analyzed. Several predictors significantly explained climatic mismatch, and these varied among taxonomic groups. For amphibians, only native range size was associated with climatic mismatch. For reptiles, the magnitude of climatic mismatch was higher for species with narrow native altitudinal ranges, occurring in topographically complex or less remote islands, as well as for species with larger distances between their native and alien ranges. For birds, climatic mismatch was significantly larger for invasions on continents with higher phylogenetic diversity of the recipient community, and when the invader was more evolutionarily distinct. Our findings highlight that apparently common niche shifts of insular species may jeopardize our ability to forecast their potential invasions using correlative methods based on climatic variables. Also, we show which factors provide additional insights on the actual invasion potential of insular endemic amphibians, reptiles, and birds.

More than a Bit of Fun: The Multiple Outcomes of a Bioblitz.

Bioblitzes are a popular approach to engage people and collect biodiversity data. Despite this, few studies have actually evaluated the multiple outcomes of bioblitz activities. We used a systematic review, an analysis of data from more than 1000 bioblitzes, and a detailed analysis of one specific bioblitz to inform our inquiry. We evaluated five possible bioblitz outcomes, which were creating a species inventory, engaging people in biological recording, enhancing learning about nature, discovering a species new to an area, and promoting an organization. We conclude that bioblitzes are diverse but overall effective at their aims and have advantages over unstructured biodiversity recording. We demonstrate for the first time that bioblitzes increase the recording activity of the participants for several months after the event. In addition, we provide evidence that bioblitzes are effective at bringing people and organizations together to build communities of professionals and amateurs, critical for conserving and protecting biodiversity.