Home

Proceedings of the International Academy of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, 2011, 1(1): 1-14
[XML] [EndNote Tagged] [BibTex] [ Full PDF (171K)] [Comment Article]

Article

Environment patterns and influential factors of biological invasions: a worldwide survey

WenJun Zhang1,2 , Bin Chen1
1School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
2International Academy of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Hong Kong

Received 1 January 2011; Accepted 20 January 2011; Published online 3 May 2011
IAEES

Abstract
Invasive species damage ecological balance, reduce species diversity and threat humans. Biological invasions have become a global problem. In order to provide knowledge on prediction, impact assessment, control management and mechanism exploration of biological invasions, the present study analyzed the environment patterns and influential factors of biological invasion worldwide, and developed quantitative relationships of biological invasions based on the data extracted from global invasive species database. The results indicated that human buildings were mostly invaded by invasive species, second by natural forest and agricultural area. Human disturbed environments held the largest numbers of invasive species. The number of invasive species in a country was positively correlated to the level of economic development and trade activity of the country. There were not linear correlations between the number of invasive species and annual precipitation and annual mean air temperature. There was a suitable range for both annual precipitation and annual mean air temperature within which biological invasions occur more frequently. Land area of a country was not responsible for the number of invasive species. Regression models were developed to describe the relationships between the number of invasive species and climate and economically motivated human activity. It is concluded that economically motivated human activity plays important role in the introduction of invasive species. Geographical adjacency and climate and environment similarity are responsible for the higher similarity of invasive species between countries. In addition, island countries have more invasive species than non-island countries.

Keywords biological invasion; invasive species; environment patterns; influential factors; regression models.


International Academy of Ecology and Environmental Sciences. E-mail: office@iaees.org
Copyright © 2009-2024 International Academy of Ecology and Environmental Sciences. All rights reserved.
Web administrator: office@iaees.org, website@iaees.org; Last modified: 2024/4/27


Translate page to: