Alien plants in checklists and floras: towards better communication between taxonomists and ecologists

TLDR

Plant invasion research is expanding rapidly, yet terminology confusion and inconsistent treatment of non‑native species in floras hinder comparative studies across regions. This paper proposes standardized definitions for invasion‑related terms and outlines how to apply them in floras to improve communication between taxonomists and ecologists. The authors recommend a three‑step classification—origin, residence, and invasion status—based on high‑quality species assessments in floras and checklists to enable robust comparative analyses. Comparative studies of alien floras, enabled by these standards, yield significant insights into general patterns of plant invasions.

Abstract

Abstract The number of studies dealing with plant invasions is increasing rapidly, but the accumulating body of knowledge has unfortunately also spawned increasing confusion about terminology. Invasions are a global phenomenon and comparison of geographically distant regions and their introduced biota is a crucially important methodological approach for elucidation of the determinants of invasiveness and invasibility. Comparative studies of alien floras provide substantial new insights to our understanding of general patterns of plant invasions. Such studies, using information in previously published floras and checklists, are fundamentally dependent on the quality of the assessment of particular species with respect to their taxonomic identity, time of immigration and invasion status. Three crucial decisions should be made when defining the status of a plant species in a given region: (1) whether the taxon is native or alien to that region (origin status); (2) what is its position in the invasion process, i.e., when was it introduced (residence status); and (3) what is the degree of its naturalization and possible invasion (invasion status). Standard floras differ hugely in their treatment of non­native species and those with appropriate categorization of alien species according to their status are rather rare. The present paper suggests definitions of terms associated with plant invasions and places these into the context of floras. Recommendations are outlined on how to deal with the issue of plant invasions in standard floras with the aim of contributing to a better understanding between taxonomists and ecologists and allowing more detailed comparative analyses of alien floras of various regions of the world.