Biodiversity最新文献

{"title":"Lockdown policy effects on invasive species: a perspective","authors":"Elia Lo Parrino, M. Falaschi, R. Manenti, G. Ficetola","doi":"10.1080/14888386.2021.1919554","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14888386.2021.1919554","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Changes in human activities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic can have multiple effects on biodiversity but there is limited knowledge of how this can impact invasive alien species (IAS). Societal measures against the spread of COVID-19 can have both short-term and long-term consequences on IAS. In the short-term, reduced human disturbance on natural habitats can increase the activity of IAS and accelerate their spread. Furthermore, management agencies have reduced control activities, sometimes allowing IAS to thrive, and ongoing monitoring programs have been interrupted, hindering rapid identification and management of biological invasions. Long-term impacts could include global modifications to wildlife trade and increased releases of captive-bred species because of the fear of zoonotic diseases and also greater public awareness of the risks of pathogens being spread among animal populations. Long-term collection and sharing of data are crucial to modulate IAS management during and after the lockdowns.","PeriodicalId":39411,"journal":{"name":"Biodiversity","volume":"22 1","pages":"35 - 40"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/14888386.2021.1919554","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45708046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The reindeer chronicles and other inspiring stories of working with nature to heal the earth","authors":"M. Root-Bernstein","doi":"10.1080/14888386.2021.1937317","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14888386.2021.1937317","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":39411,"journal":{"name":"Biodiversity","volume":"22 1","pages":"106 - 107"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/14888386.2021.1937317","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42674729","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A golden cage for the European red squirrel in Italy? Proposal for a targeted control of the grey squirrel","authors":"L. Wauters, A. Martinoli","doi":"10.1080/14888386.2021.1927843","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14888386.2021.1927843","url":null,"abstract":"The grey squirrel is regarded as an invasive non-native species for Europe. This species is included in the EU 1143/2014 Regulation and listed in the international list of 100 of the worst invasive non-native species (Lowe et al. 2000). Due to this legal proscription, it is illegal to release a grey squirrel into the wild, or allow one to escape, and it is mandatory for all EU Member states including Italy to eradicate the species if feasible, or effectively control it, particularly where there is a risk of exporting it to other Member states. However, the natural expansion of the nuclei introduced in Europe is favouring the colonisation of new areas, increasing the non-native distribution of the invasive species. In fact, introduced tree squirrels can establish self-sustaining populations from only a few founders and are likely to become invasive and cause problems to native species (e.g. Wauters et al. 2005; Bertolino et al. 2014; Mazzamuto et al. 2016, 2017a, b). Alien tree squirrels have a strong propensity to spread through the landscape despite wide roads and land-use changes that are predicted to cause a loss in suitable habitat and dispersal corridors, potentially limiting their range expansion (Chen & Koprowski 2019; Di Febbraro et al. 2019). Their ecological impact on habitats and native wildlife can be dramatic, particularly on native tree squirrels. In fact, grey squirrels have caused, and continue to cause, the extinction of red squirrel populations through interspecific competition for high-quality food resources. This reduces female reproductive success and juvenile recruitment (Wauters et al. 2002a, 2002b; Gurnell et al. 2014) and, on the British Isles, the transmission of a squirrel poxvirus (SQPV, micro-parasite spillover) from the alien reservoir host to native red squirrels for which, in most cases, the disease is fatal (Tompkins et al. 2002; Everest et al. 2019; McInnes et al. 2020). Moreover, the effects of the alien species’ presence on native red squirrels extend also to personality and physiology; in red/grey sites, red squirrels show higher sociability and higher concentrations of stress hormones than in red-only sites (Santicchia et al. 2018; Wauters et al. 2019). Unlike Great Britain and Ireland, there is no evidence of SQPV circulating in Italy (Romeo et al. 2019) but spillover of an alien endoparasite (Strongyloides robustus) introduced by grey squirrels has been reported (Romeo et al. 2015). Santicchia et al. (2020) showed that in red squirrels this infection reduces the host’s expression of activity an energetically costly personality trait. Range expansion of grey squirrels is occurring, at different rates, in some areas in Italy (e.g. Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto) and also in the United Kingdom (Martinoli et al. 2010; Bertolino et al. 2014; Gurnel et al. 2014; Signorile et al. 2016; Loy et al. 2019). In Ireland, the trend seems to have stopped, or even been reversed, apparently associated with an increase in the pi","PeriodicalId":39411,"journal":{"name":"Biodiversity","volume":"22 1","pages":"87 - 90"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/14888386.2021.1927843","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48472054","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Invasive alien species and biodiversity: impacts and management","authors":"R. Gentili, U. Schaffner, A. Martinoli, S. Citterio","doi":"10.1080/14888386.2021.1929484","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14888386.2021.1929484","url":null,"abstract":"As far back as the 18th century, many naturalists including Augustin Pyramus De Candolle and Charles Darwin, observed the phenomenon of non-native species. These were defined as ‘species outside of their bioregion which can possibly threaten native ones (De Candolle 1855; Darwin 1859; Pyšek et al. 2004). It was however only after the 1950s that scientists became aware that biological invasions can have a deleterious effect on habitats and ecosystems (Elton 1958; Macdonald and Jarman 1984; Davis 2009). The ‘father’ of invasion biology, Charles Elton, defined biological invasions as ‘ecological explosions’ meaning ‘the enormous increase in number of some organism’ in newly invaded ranges (Elton 1958). A combination of colonial rule, rapid economic development and increasing global trade exchanges across continents and borders have had a key role in human-mediated movement of propagules and species and have led to the subsequent establishment of non-native species in new regions outside their natural range (Turbelin et al. 2017). Indeed, the number of new recordings of invasive alien species (IAS) have incessantly increased worldwide during the last 200 years, but more than a third of all first introductions were recorded between 1970 and 2014 (Seebens et al. 2017). Over the last 30 years, numerous studies have demonstrated the negative effect of IAS on native biodiversity from the genetic (e.g. interspecific hybridization) to the ecosystem and landscape level (Largiadèr 2008; Kumschick et al. 2015; Lazzaro et al. 2020; Viciani et al. 2020). Today, biological invasions are considered among the main drivers causing biodiversity loss and species extinctions in the major plant and animal taxa across the world (IUCN 2017; Dueñas et al. 2021). Particularly, according to Bellard et al. (2016), IAS are the second most frequent threat connected with species’ extinction events since 1500. Besides biodiversity loss, the most recent literature on IAS has pointed out that these species have negative impacts on agriculture, ecosystem services and human well-being (including human health), ultimately causing serious economic problems (Pejchar and Mooney 2009; McGeoch et al. 2010; Paini et al. 2016). Economic damages due to IAS should include costs related to the direct damage caused by the species as well as those to be ascribed to their prevention, control and management (Marbuah et al. 2014). Even though environmental issues caused by IAS are recognized worldwide, knowledge on their current and future impacts on native biodiversity is still largely unknown (Downey and Richardson 2016; Essl et al. 2020). Numerous IAS can colonize, with different strengths, ecosystems in different bioregions of the world; whilst on the other hand, biological invasions are a continuous phenomenon and so far only observed for too short a period (i.e. mainly over the last century) to really understand the response of the native species assemblages and ecosystems. Yet, the management","PeriodicalId":39411,"journal":{"name":"Biodiversity","volume":"22 1","pages":"1 - 3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/14888386.2021.1929484","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43105751","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of invasive alien species on riparian vegetation over a 20-year time-lapse: a case study from the Tiber river in Central Italy","authors":"Safiya Praleskouskaya, R. Venanzoni","doi":"10.1080/14888386.2021.1940277","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14888386.2021.1940277","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Invasive alien species (IAS) have a severe impact on indigenous vegetation globally, including in riparian ecosystems, which are already subject to severe natural and anthropogenic modifications. This paper presents a case study of the long-term impact of IAS that was carried out on the banks of the Tiber River near Lake Alviano in Central Italy. We compared the vegetation composition from 1998 and 2020, to record IAS invasion after a time-lapse of 22 years. We performed 48 phytosociological relevés in 2020, using the same method that had been used in 1998 (with 46 relevés). The importance of IAS in determining the changes in floristic composition and vegetation dynamics was quantified using chorology, life forms and Ellenberg’s ecological indicator values. Results of our multivariate analysis revealed that Paspalum distichum L. and Amorpha fruticosa L. are the most impactful species, due to their ecological traits that make them highly competitive in disturbed environments. Ellenberg’s indicator values show that the habitat has shifted towards increased eutrophication and warming. The multivariate analysis confirmed a change in species composition and therefore in vegetation, leading to a more monotonous habitat with completely different vegetation types than before. Finally, the consequences for Natura 2000 habitats were assessed. Key policy insights IAS drastically changed and reduced the cover of native vegetation species between 1998 and 2020, changing the environment from an herbaceous marshy vegetation type to a more homogeneous shrubland. The analysed habitat increased in eutrophication driven by 22 years of overgrazing and by the establishment of a nitrogen-fixing IAS (Amorpha fruticosa L.). The most impactful IAS were Paspalum distichum L. and Amorpha fruticosa L. Some IAS (e.g. Paspalum distichum L.) are currently considered characteristic species of some N2000 habitats (e.g. 3280 and 3290), presenting a paradox of the negative effects of invasions and evidencing a gap in the inclusion of important native communities in the EU Habitats Directive worthy and in need of protection.","PeriodicalId":39411,"journal":{"name":"Biodiversity","volume":"22 1","pages":"67 - 81"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/14888386.2021.1940277","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44007430","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Some like it fishless: the reasons and potential for eradicating alien fish from European mountain lakes","authors":"R. Tiberti, E. Cardarelli","doi":"10.1080/14888386.2021.1929483","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14888386.2021.1929483","url":null,"abstract":"Stocking game fish into originally fishless mountain systems is a major threat for high-altitude lakes and the inhabiting native species. The adoption of stocking and fishing bans and the implementation of eradication actions have proven to be effective in stopping this biological invasion. However, there is still little appetite for such measures/actions in fishery management in European mountains and protected areas probably because of their possible, negative, socio-economic implications. Here, we briefly present; i) the ecological costs of this general inaction and ii) the reasons for embracing a conservation-minded approach to the management of fish resources in mountain areas, adopting appropriate measures and actions (i.e. fish eradications).","PeriodicalId":39411,"journal":{"name":"Biodiversity","volume":"22 1","pages":"95 - 99"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/14888386.2021.1929483","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42256041","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The impact of Acacia saligna on the composition and structure of the Mediterranean maquis","authors":"Francesco Pio Tozzi, M. Carranza, L. Frate, A. Stanisci","doi":"10.1080/14888386.2021.1936640","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14888386.2021.1936640","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT We evaluated the ecological impacts of the invasive alien species (IAS) Acacia saligna on the vegetation composition and structure of two coastal dunes woody habitats of Union concern (2250*: coastal dunes with Juniperus spp. and 2260: dunes with sclerophyllous vegetation consisting of Cisto-Lavanduletalia). We sampled 20 paired plots per habitat type under invaded (A. saligna cover > 70%) and non-invaded conditions, following a stratified random protocol. We tested the differences between invaded and non-invaded plots in terms of species composition of the entire species pool and of different ecological guilds and growth forms. Our findings showed that the invaded maquis (habitat 2260) had a significant decline in median richness (5 vs 2) and median cover (24.50 vs 8.00) of focal species and a significant increase in median cover of ruderal species (2.00 vs 5.50). The invaded juniper shrubs (EU habitat 2250*) preserved the typical species composition, but with significant variations in vegetation structure. The approach adopted in this study, accompanied by the results obtained, contribute towards fulfilling EU Regulation 1143/2014 on IAS. Key policy insights Results reveal worrying levels of biodiversity loss on coastal dunes due to the invasion of the invasive alien species (IAS) Acacia saligna. We detected remarkable changes in the physiognomy of the Mediterranean maquis coastal dunes – a landscape that is losing its biological uniqueness. The spread of A. saligna is having negative ecological effects upon the conservation status of two habitats of Union concern (codes 2250* and 2260). Urgent preventive measures, effective control strategies and eradication of A. saligna must be implemented across the Mediterranean Nature 2000 Coastal Protected Areas Network. The approach adopted and results obtained contribute to fulfilling EU Regulation 1143/2014 on IAS.","PeriodicalId":39411,"journal":{"name":"Biodiversity","volume":"22 1","pages":"53 - 66"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44942791","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fantastic Fungi","authors":"P. Moore","doi":"10.1080/14888386.2021.1944318","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14888386.2021.1944318","url":null,"abstract":"The beautifully crafted documentary Fantastic Fungi – The Magic Beneath Our Feet, by Louie Schwartzberg, serves as a paean to the often-underappreciated mushroom. Using immaculately constructed computer animated graphics, eye-popping time lapses and sumptuous photography, Fantastic Fungi does in fact manage to deliver the ‘magic beneath our feet’ through our very own TV screens. Neither animal nor vegetable, the mushroom has defied easy classification, despite many attempts by mycologists over the years. In 1767, Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist and physician who formalized binomial nomenclature, published the 12th edition of his Systema Naturae. Frustrated by attempts to categorize the notoriously unclassifiable fungi, he banished a diverse selection of fungal groups to a species he called Chaos fungorum. For me, this tale speaks to the riotous marvel that is the fungal world. In conversations between scientific researchers, enthusiastic amateurs and avant-garde experimenters, fungi are at the leading edge of discovery: the quintessence of science. Discoveries, broad in place and time, are difficult to attribute to a single person; the scientific enterprise is as much about the network of learning and sharing information as it is about singular individuals. With the Internet, the distribution of information and communication is much easier. And as the film reminds us, the structure of mycelium is much like the Internet and the sharing of knowledge. However, despite a wide cast, the documentary rests much of its narrative drive around Paul Stamets – the voice of mushrooms. His 2008 TED talk, ‘6 Ways Mushrooms Can Save the World’, has been viewed over six million times. As a key communicator, passionate advocate and autodidact, Stamets is the epitome of an amateur scientist. This is not intended on my part to be a slur, but rather a compliment; ‘amateur’ of course comes from the Latin amare: ‘to love’. His passion infuses his work, and this film, with the spirit of enchantment and discovery – prime movers in any approach to science. Using interviews with chefs, mycologists, foresters, psychologists and psychiatrists, the documentary deftly weaves a tale of the ways in which fungi play an inextricably important role in our lives, our cultures, our medicines and our relationship to the natural world. The grand molecular decomposers of nature, fungi are given an almost mystical and sentient acclaim in the film – which may put some serious-minded viewers off. Yet as a documentary film for public consumption, Fantastic Fungi doesn’t quite untether itself from reality, but rather presents unique ideas as an invitation into discovery. This is in part due to the fact that Stamets is a masterful communicator and interviews well. Whether you like him or not, he is undeniably engaging. As he says early on in the film,","PeriodicalId":39411,"journal":{"name":"Biodiversity","volume":"60 5-6","pages":"108 - 108"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/14888386.2021.1944318","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41309747","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Invasive Alien Species themed issue","authors":"Vanessa Reid","doi":"10.1080/14888386.2021.1947378","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14888386.2021.1947378","url":null,"abstract":"One of the first things that often springs to mind when thinking about invasive alien species is the infamous Eastern Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis). Under the UK’s Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is an offence to release grey squirrels into the wild without a licence. According to the Forestry Commission England, grey squirrels outnumber native red squirrels by a whopping 15,000 red to over 2 million greys. They are also responsible for damaging broadleaved and coniferous woodlands, estimated to cost the UK £6–10 million pounds (~$8–13 million) each year. These little critters are such pests that there exists a 2019 ‘Grey Squirrels and England’s Woodland’ action plan. So, what solutions are on the horizon to bring these populations into a more sustainable equilibrium? Some argue that gene drive technology is the answer. A 2021 study, “Novel Combination of CRISPR-Based Gene Drives Eliminates Resistance and Localizes Spread,” published in Scientific Reports, asserts that existing gene drive technologies could be combined to help control the invasive grey squirrel population in the UK with little risk to other populations. Furthermore, the findings suggest that this is a humane, efficient and costeffective method of control. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) is an RNA-guided gene-editing platform that makes use of a bacterially derived protein (Cas9) and a synthetic guide RNA to introduce a doublestrand break at a specific location within the genome. The 2021 case study revealed that the combined gene drive (HD-ClvR) – a novel combination of CRISPR-based gene drives – effectively suppressed a targeted grey squirrel population. It appeared to pose minimal risk to other populations by combining the advantages of its individual components: homing, cleave-and-rescue and daisyfield. If you are unfamiliar with squirrel primogeniture, you are not alone. Homing ensures that the altered gene is passed on to future generations by inserting it into the germline: the cells that pass on genetic information to offspring. Cleave-and-rescue ensures that offspring with resistant gene variants do not develop. Daisyfield limits the number of altered genes that can be passed on from one individual to the next, thus limiting their spread outside the target population. Described by some as ‘molecular scissors’, CRISPR is used to make targeted, precise changes to the DNA of plants and animals – which, as one might expect, raises its fair share of ethical concerns. In a fascinating – verging on alarming – TED talk in 2015, ‘How CRISPR Lets Us Edit Our DNA’, geneticist Jennifer Doudna asks the scientific community to pause and discuss the ethics of this new tool, including the possibility of creating ‘designer babies’. An April 2021 episode of the BBC’s Costing the Earth radio series also explores these moral conundrums, asking the important question: Should we use this power to interfere with Nature, and if so, how should it be","PeriodicalId":39411,"journal":{"name":"Biodiversity","volume":"22 1","pages":"100 - 105"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47608246","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Using local hay seed for suppressing invasive alien plants in grasslands","authors":"R. Gentili, S. Citterio","doi":"10.1080/14888386.2021.1927842","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14888386.2021.1927842","url":null,"abstract":"When putting into practice restoration ecology principles to combat Invasive Alien Plant Species (IAPS) the first question to ask ourselves is: spontaneous succession or technical reclamation? It is widely recognised that IAPS are a serious threat to native species diversity and can alter ecosystem services such as decreasing habitat quality. In particular, alien herbaceous species often colonise degraded or disturbed grassland areas such as fallow agricultural areas, abandoned fields and natural/semi-natural grasslands subject to fire, mowing and pasture. Here, the establishment of IAPS can alter both biotic and abiotic factors such as nutrient cycling and competition. In addition, IAPS may make it problematic to restore native grasslands since they may rapidly establish themselves at the expense of native plants (Tjelmeland, Fulbright, and Lloyd-Reilley 2008) thereby impeding the growth of native plants by competition mechanisms or by modifying succession trajectories (Simberloff, 2010). Once a grassland is subject to biological invasion, the aim is to try to restore the area to its pre-invasion biodiversity levels and ecosystem functions (Reid et al. 2009). Generally, there are two main, but different, strategies that are employed: a) spontaneous succession (passive restoration) or b) technical reclamation (active restoration) followed-up by site management (mowing) for the control or suppression of IAPS (Prach and Hobbs 2008; Gentili et al. 2017). After the mechanical removal of IAPS, most land managers leave invaded lands alone to allow natural succession to restore native plant communities (Prach and Pysĕk 2001). However, during the first phases of grassland restoration, field observations have frequently highlighted the inability of native species to furnish adequate amounts of propagules relative to the high propagule propensity of IAPS. This suggests that, in the short-term, passive approaches to restoration may be unsuitable to promote the reestablishment of native-dominated communities and avoid IAPS re-invasion (Schuster, Wragg PD, and Reich 2018). Although good examples of passive recovery of grasslands have been reported (e.g. Řehounková and Prach 2008), in cases where highly invasive IAPS are present, we support the idea that technical reclamation should be the preferred option. Indeed, actively filling empty or degraded spaces, that might otherwise be colonised by IAPS, can accelerate the natural dynamics of native species and aid the recovery of ecosystem functions (Gilardelli et al. 2016; Gentili et al. 2017).","PeriodicalId":39411,"journal":{"name":"Biodiversity","volume":"22 1","pages":"91 - 94"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/14888386.2021.1927842","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45375364","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}