Global exchange and accumulation of non-native plants.
All around the globe, humans have greatly altered the abiotic and biotic environment with ever-increasing speed. One defining feature of the Anthropocene epoch is the erosion of biogeographical barriers by human-mediated dispersal of species into new regions, where they can naturalize and cause ecological, economic and social damage. So far, no comprehensive analysis of the global accumulation and exchange of alien plant species between continents has been performed, primarily because of a lack of data. Here we bridge this knowledge gap by using a unique global database on the occurrences of naturalized alien plant species in 481 mainland and 362 island regions. In total, 13,168 plant species, corresponding to 3.9% of the extant global vascular flora, or approximately the size of the native European flora, have become naturalized somewhere on the globe as a result of human activity. North America has accumulated the largest number of naturalized species, whereas the Pacific Islands show the fastest increase in species numbers with respect to their land area. Continents in the Northern Hemisphere have been the major donors of naturalized alien species to all other continents. Our results quantify for the first time the extent of plant naturalizations worldwide, and illustrate the urgent need for globally integrated efforts to control, manage and understand the spread of alien species.
Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, D-78464 Konstanz, Germany.
Mark
M
van Kleunen
Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, D-78464 Konstanz, Germany.
Wayne
W
Dawson
Division of Conservation, Vegetation and Landscape Ecology, University of Vienna, 1030 Wien, Austria.
Franz
F
Essl
Institute of Botany, Department of Invasion Ecology, The Czech Academy of Sciences, CZ-252 43 Průhonice, Czech Republic.
Jan
J
Pergl
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Marten
M
Winter
Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, D-14469 Potsdam, Germany.
Ewald
E
Weber
Biodiversity, Macroecology &Conservation Biogeography, University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 1, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany.
Holger
H
Kreft
Biodiversity, Macroecology &Conservation Biogeography, University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 1, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany.
Patrick
P
Weigelt
Biota of North America Program (BONAP), Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27516, USA.
John
J
Kartesz
Biota of North America Program (BONAP), Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27516, USA.
Misako
M
Nishino
Institute for Aquatic and Ecological Problems, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 680000 Khabarovsk, Russia.
Liubov A
LA
Antonova
School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand.
Julie F
JF
Barcelona
Departamento de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC, Plaza de Murillo 2, 28014 Madrid, Spain.
Francisco J
FJ
Cabezas
Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas Sinchi, Herbario Amazónico Colombiano, 110311 Bogotá, Colombia.
Dairon
D
Cárdenas
Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, 111311 Bogotá, Colombia.|Arts Faculty, Monash University, 3145 Melbourne, Australia.
Juliana
J
Cárdenas-Toro
Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas Sinchi, Herbario Amazónico Colombiano, 110311 Bogotá, Colombia.
Nicolás
N
Castaño
Division of Conservation, Vegetation and Landscape Ecology, University of Vienna, 1030 Wien, Austria.|Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, 11501 San José, Costa Rica.
Eduardo
E
Chacón
Conservatoire et jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève, 1292 Genève, Switzerland.
Cyrille
C
Chatelain
Laboratory of Plant Taxonomy and Phylogeny, Tomsk State University, Lenin Prospect 36, 634050, Tomsk, Russia.
Aleksandr L
AL
Ebel
Department of Botany, PO Box 77000, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, 6031 South Africa.|Centre for Functional Ecology, Departamento de Ciências da Vida, Universidade de Coimbra, 3001-455 Coimbra, Portugal.
Estrela
E
Figueiredo
Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Universidad de Concepción, Victoria 631, 403000, Concepción, Chile.
Nicol
N
Fuentes
Botanic Garden Meise, Domein van Bouchout, B-1860, Meise, Belgium.
Quentin J
QJ
Groom
ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.
Lesley
L
Henderson
Department of Environmental Studies and Centre for Environmental Management Degraded of Ecosystems, University of Delhi, Delhi 110007, India.
Inderjit
Institute of Human Ecology SB RAS, Pr. Leningradasky 10, 650065 Kemerovo, Russia.
Andrey
A
Kupriyanov
Programa de Pós-graduación en Ecología, UFRN, Campus Lagoa Nova, 59078-900 Natal, Brazil.|Oceanología y Ecología Marina, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Iguá, 4225, CP 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay.
Silvana
S
Masciadri
Belize Tropical Forest Studies, PO Box 208, Belmopan, Belize.
Jan
J
Meerman
Institute of Geography RAS, Staromonetny, 29, 119017 Moscow, Russia.
Olga
O
Morozova
Division of Conservation, Vegetation and Landscape Ecology, University of Vienna, 1030 Wien, Austria.
Dietmar
D
Moser
Department of Plant Biology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois 62901-6509 USA.
Daniel L
DL
Nickrent
Oman Botanic Garden, Diwan of Royal Court, 122 Muscat, Oman.
Annette
A
Patzelt
School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand.
Pieter B
PB
Pelser
Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, 111311 Bogotá, Colombia.
María P
MP
Baptiste
The Forest Herbarium (BKF), Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
Manop
M
Poopath
Department of Biology, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, D-06108 Halle, Germany.
Maria
M
Schulze
Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, University of Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky Straße 9-11, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany.
Hanno
H
Seebens
State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, College of Ecology and Evolution, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
Wen-sheng
WS
Shu
Department of Botany &Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, PO Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
Jacob
J
Thomas
Departamento de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC, Plaza de Murillo 2, 28014 Madrid, Spain.
Mauricio
M
Velayos
Naturalis Biodiversity Center (Botany section), Darwinweg 2, 2333 CR Leiden, the Netherlands.|Biosystematics Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Jan J
JJ
Wieringa
Institute of Botany, Department of Invasion Ecology, The Czech Academy of Sciences, CZ-252 43 Průhonice, Czech Republic.|Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, CZ-128 44 Viničná 7, Prague 2, Czech Republic.|Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Matieland 7602, South Africa.
Petr
P
Pyšek
D044822:Biodiversity; D016208:Databases, Factual; D062305:Geographic Mapping; D058865:Introduced Species / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009656:North America; D010139:Pacific Islands; D058974:Phylogeography; D010944:Plants