InvasiBES

Invasive Alien Species (IAS) are considered a direct driver of biodiversity loss and have pronounced negative impacts on supporting, provisioning, regulating and cultural services. Both the numbers and distributions of IAS are increasing in many parts of the world, to the extent that the biogeographic distinctiveness of different regions is becoming blurred. The costs of IAS are therefore set to increase. They mostly arise from economic loss in the agriculture, forestry, energy and health sectors, diminished delivery of ecosystem services, and cost of controlling and eradicating unwanted species. Past research on biological invasions has mainly focused on the ecological factors determining IAS success and distribution, treating ecosystem services only marginally, and focusing on particular species, habitats or ecosystem functions, such as nutrient and water cycling. Moreover, current knowledge on the impacts of IAS on ecosystem services is strongly biased towards terrestrial habitats and services that have marketable values (agriculture yields, forestry production, human health), whereas aquatic habitats and nonmarketable services are largely ignored. By synthesizing knowledge across habitats (freshwater, marine and terrestrial) and scales (continental to local), InvasiBES aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the multi-faceted impacts of IAS on biodiversity and ecosystem services.