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Ecology

Global trends in plant naturalization

Nature volume 525, pages 39–40 (2015)Cite this article

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Many naturalized non-native plants pose ecological and economic threats. A quantitative analysis of the global distribution of naturalized plants confirms some anticipated trends and exposes new patterns. See Letter p.100

Naturalized species are non-native species that form self-sustaining populations following their introduction into an area by human agency1. Some naturalized species are considered a major threat to biodiversity and have been the focus of many biologists over the past three decades. However, even casual observers may notice that the distribution of naturalized species is highly uneven within and among different regions. Attempts to summarize global geographical distributions of naturalized organisms have included birds2, ungulates3 (large mammals such as pigs and camels) and bryophytes4(non-vascular plants), but a comprehensive assessment of naturalized vascular plants has been missing. In this issue, van Kleunen et al.5 (page 100) provide the first global analysis of the numbers and distributions of naturalized vascular plants and their exchange between continents.

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Figure 1: A naturalized problem.

MARCEL REJMÁNEK

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  1. Marcel Rejmánek is in the Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California Davis, Davis, California 95616, USA.,

    Marcel Rejmánek

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  1. Marcel Rejmánek
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Correspondence to Marcel Rejmánek.

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Rejmánek, M. Global trends in plant naturalization. Nature 525, 39–40 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature15206

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