Identifying characteristics that enable species to become invasive across aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems

生物入侵被认为是继栖息地破坏之后对生物多样性的第二大威胁，预计未来入侵物种的数量和影响将上升。由人类引入，约有1%的非本地物种被报告为入侵物种（即建立自我维持的种群，达到高丰度，并在大的地理区域迅速传播）。了解区分入侵物种和非入侵物种的特征对于生物安保风险评估和确定管理工作的优先次序至关重要。可能具有入侵性的非本地物种可能被禁止进口或被管理者作为目标，而不构成生态、经济或健康威胁的非入侵物种可能在很大程度上被忽视。由于入侵物种的威胁和具有高风险物种的“特征概况”的价值，相当大的努力已经进入识别与入侵物种相关的特征。尽管取得了一些成功，但可靠地预测入侵性的一组明确的特征仍然难以捉摸，并且缺乏识别入侵物种的通用方法[1]。此外，在不同类型的生态系统中，入侵物种之间的联系很少[2]。本项目将研究不同生态系统类型和分类组中入侵物种和非入侵物种之间的相似性和差异，旨在确定所有入侵物种共有的一组共同特征或生活策略

Biological invasions are considered the second greatest threat to biodiversity after habitat destruction, and the number and impacts of invasive species are predicted to rise in the future. Introduced by humans, about 1% of non-native species have been reported as invasive (i.e. establish self-sustainable populations, reach high abundance, and spread quickly through large geographic areas). Knowing the characteristics that distinguish species that are invasive from species that are non-invasive is crucial for biosecurity risk assessment and for prioritizing management efforts. Non-native species likely to be invasive could be banned for import or targeted by managers, whereas non-invasive species that pose no ecological, economic or health threat could be largely ignored. Because of the threat of invasive species and the value of having a "character profile" of high risk species, considerable effort has gone into identifying characteristics associated with invasive species. Despite some success, a definitive set of traits that reliably predicts invasiveness remains elusive and a universal approach for identifying invasive species is lacking [1]. Further, very few connections have been made between the types of species that become invasive across different types of ecosystems [2].This project will examine the similarities and differences among species that are invasive and non-invasive across ecosystem types and taxonomic groups, with the aim of identifying a common set of characteristics or life strategies shared by all invasive species