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Our ability to predict the identity of future invasive alien species is largely based upon knowledge of prior invasion history. Emerging alien species-those never encountered as aliens before-therefore pose a significant challenge to biosecurity interventions worldwide. Understanding their temporal trends, origins, and the drivers of their spread is pivotal to improving prevention and risk assessment tools. Here, we use a database of 45,984 first records of 16,019 established alien species to investigate the temporal dynamics of occurrences of emerging alien species worldwide. Even after many centuries of invasions the rate of emergence of new alien species is still high: Onequarter of first records during 2000-2005 were of species that had not been previously recorded anywhere as alien, though with large variation across taxa. Model results show that the high proportion of emerging alien species cannot be solely explained by increases in well-known drivers such as the amount of imported commodities from historically important source regions. Instead, these dynamics reflect the incorporation of new regions into the pool of potential alien species, likely as a consequence of expanding trade networks and environmental change. This process compensates for the depletion of the historically important source species pool through successive invasions. We estimate that 1-16% of all species on Earth, depending on the taxonomic group, qualify as potential alien species. These results suggest that there remains a high proportion of emerging alien species we have yet to encounter, with future impacts that are difficult to predict. © 2018 National Academy of Sciences. All Rights Reserved.

Science-based strategies to tackle biological invasions depend on recent, accurate, well-documented, standardized and openly accessible information on alien species. Currently and historically, biodiversity data are scattered in numerous disconnected data silos that lack interoperability. The situation is no different for alien species data, and this obstructs efficient retrieval, combination, and use of these kinds of information for research and policy-making. Standardization and interoperability are particularly important as many alien species related research and policy activities require pooling data. We describe seven ways that data on alien species can be made more accessible and useful, based on the results of a European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) workshop: (1) Create data management plans; (2) Increase interoperability of information sources; (3) Document data through metadata; (4) Format data using existing standards; (5) Adopt controlled vocabularies; (6) Increase data availability; and (7) Ensure long-term data preservation. We identify four properties specific and integral to alien species data (species status, introduction pathway, degree of establishment, and impact mechanism) that are either missing from existing data standards or lack a recommended controlled vocabulary. Improved access to accurate, real-time and historical data will repay the long-term investment in data management infrastructure, by providing more accurate, timely and realistic assessments and analyses. If we improve core biodiversity data standards by developing their relevance to alien species, it will allow the automation of common activities regarding data processing in support of environmental policy. Furthermore, we call for considerable effort to maintain, update, standardize, archive, and aggregate datasets, to ensure proper valorization of alien species data and information before they become obsolete or lost. © Copyright © 2017 Groom, Adriaens, Desmet, Simpson, De Wever, Bazos, Cardoso, Charles, Christopoulou, Gazda, Helmisaari, Hobern, Josefsson, Lucy, Marisavljevic, Oszako, Pergl, Petrovic-Obradovic, Prévot, Ravn, Richards, Roques, Roy, Rozenberg, Scalera, Tricarico, Trichkova, Vercayie, Zenetos and Vanderhoeven.

Although research on human-mediated exchanges of species has substantially intensified during the last centuries, we know surprisingly little about temporal dynamics of alien species accumulations across regions and taxa. Using a novel database of 45,813 first records of 16,926 established alien species, we show that the annual rate of first records worldwide has increased during the last 200 years, with 37% of all first records reported most recently (1970-2014). Inter-continental and inter-taxonomic variation can be largely attributed to the diaspora of European settlers in the nineteenth century and to the acceleration in trade in the twentieth century. For all taxonomic groups, the increase in numbers of alien species does not show any sign of saturation and most taxa even show increases in the rate of first records over time. This highlights that past efforts to mitigate invasions have not been effective enough to keep up with increasing globalization. © The Author(s) 2017.

n order to support the prioritisation of invasive alien species for future risk assessments, a horizon scanning methodology for the Europe was developed and implemented. The outcome was a list of 95 species, including all taxa (except microorganisms) within marine, terrestrial and freshwater environments, considered as very high or high priority for risk assessment.

The European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN) was launched in 2012 by the European Commission to facilitate the exploration of existing alien species information and to assist the implementation of European policies on biological invasions. At the core of EASIN, there is an inventory of all known alien and cryptogenic species in Europe (the EASIN Catalogue, herein published), which includes relevant information, such as taxonomic classification, pathways of introduction, year and country of first introduction. Spatial records of species occurrence in Europe are stored in the EASIN geo-databases, integrating data from many data providers and the literature. All this information is publicly available through a widget framework, providing easy to use and flexible tools for searching and mapping. The EASIN datasets have been used for pan-European or regional assessments of pathways and gateways of alien invasions, towards the fulfilment of the related targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity and of European policies. Moreover, in support of the new EU Regulation on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species in Europe, an Early Warning and Rapid Response System is being developed by EASIN. © 2015 The Author(s) and 2015 REABIC.

This paper focuses on the amphibian and reptile species occurring in the Majella National Park, a mountain habitat of the central Apennines, in the framework of a project aimed at the protection of the most representative habitats and species of the Italian peninsula. Previous knowledge on the herpetofauna occurring in the area was incomplete and scattered in several papers. We collected all past and current available literature and, between 1995 and 2002, carried out field surveys on an area of about 80.000 hectares, to gather all possible information and to provide for the first time a comprehensive annotated checklist of the species with data on their ecology and distribution. All faunal records were inserted on a database, in order to realise a tool to be used for future works and to allow future conservation actions. Information on conservation status of each species was also collected and discussed. In total, we confirmed the occurrence of 13 amphibians (5 Caudata, 8 Anura) and 18 reptiles (2 Testudines, 7 Sauria, 9 Serpentes). They represent almost 80% and 100% respectively of the overall amphibian and reptile species occurring in the Central Apennines. The high diversity of species remarks the high biogeographic and conservation value of the area.

Recent comprehensive data provided through the DAISIE project (www.europe-aliens.org) have facilitated the development of the first pan-European assessment of the impacts of alien plants, vertebrates, and invertebrates in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments - on ecosystem services. There are 1094 species with documented ecological impacts and 1347 with economic impacts. The two taxonomic groups with the most species causing impacts are terrestrial invertebrates and terrestrial plants. The North Sea is the maritime region that suffers the most impacts. Across taxa and regions, ecological and economic impacts are highly correlated. Terrestrial invertebrates create greater economic impacts than ecological impacts, while the reverse is true for terrestrial plants. Alien species from all taxonomie groups affect "supporting", "provisioning", "regulating", and "cultural" services and interfere with human well-being. Terrestrial vertebrates are responsible for the greatest range of impacts, and these are widely distributed across Europe. Here, we present a review of the financial costs, as the first step toward calculating an estimate of the economic consequences of alien species in Europe. © The Ecological Society of America.

Our ability to predict the identity of future invasive alien species is largely based upon knowledge of prior invasion history. Emerging alien species—those never encountered as aliens before—there-fore pose a significant challenge to biosecurity interventions worldwide. Understanding their temporal trends, origins, and the drivers of their spread is pivotal to improving prevention and risk assessment tools. Here, we use a database of 45,984 first records of 16,019 established alien species to investigate the temporal dy-namics of occurrences of emerging alien species worldwide. Even after many centuries of invasions the rate of emergence of new alien species is still high: One-quarter of first records during 2000–2005 were of species that had not been previously recorded any-where as alien, though with large variation across taxa. Model results show that the high proportion of emerging alien species cannot be solely explained by increases in well-known drivers such as the amount of imported commodities from historically impor-tant source regions. Instead, these dynamics reflect the incorpora-tion of new regions into the pool of potential alien species, likely as a consequence of expanding trade networks and environmental change. This process compensates for the depletion of the histor-ically important source species pool through successive invasions. We estimate that 1–16% of all species on Earth, depending on the taxonomic group, qualify as potential alien species. These results suggest that there remains a high proportion of emerging alien species we have yet to encounter, with future impacts that are difficult to predict.

Substantial progress has been made in understanding how pathways underlie and mediate biological invasions. However, key features of their role in invasions remain poorly understood, available knowledge is widely scattered, and major frontiers in research and management are insufficiently characterized. We review the state of the art, highlight recent advances, identify pitfalls and constraints, and discuss major challenges in four broad fields of pathway research and management: pathway classification, application of pathway information, management response, and management impact. We present approaches to describe and quantify pathway attributes (e.g., spatiotemporal changes, proxies of introduction effort, environmental and socioeconomic contexts) and how they interact with species traits and regional characteristics. We also provide recommendations for a research agenda with particular focus on emerging (or neglected) research questions and present new analytical tools in the context of pathway research and management.

Il design italiano, nella sua storia, aldilà del progetto, ha sempre espresso territori, paesaggi culturali complessi ed umanità condensati nella materia solida. Questa caratteristica così unica che connota i processi di progettazione e produzione è possibile grazie alla particolare attitudine all’ascolto dei diversi contesti sociali, ambientali e produttivi che i designer italiani hanno sviluppato quasi geneticamente. L’ insieme di saggi raccolti in questo volume indaga l’evoluzione delle metodologie progettuali nei processi di innovazione, partendo dall’analisi critica dei principali approcci teorici utilizzati nei sistemi aziendali, educativi e sociali. Lo scambio di idee, bisogni, esigenze, sviluppato attraverso processi condivisi, genera applicazioni in diversi ambiti della cultura del progetto. L’approccio Listening Design, messo a punto da un gruppo di lavoro attivo da anni sull’argomento, consente di costruire un ambiente di competenze, esperienze, professionalità in cui sperimentare un ascolto aperto e paritario e di definire soluzioni alle domande di innovazione nei differenti ambiti del design, del fashion design e della comunicazione. La parte teorica del testo è accompagnata da una serie di sperimentazioni in cui gli strumenti e le pratiche dell’approccio sono descritte attraverso diverse applicazioni.

Il design italiano, nella sua storia, aldilà del progetto, ha sempre espresso territori, paesaggi culturali complessi ed umanità condensati nella materia solida. Questa caratteristica così unica che connota i processi di progettazione e produzione è possibile grazie alla particolare attitudine all’ascolto dei diversi contesti sociali, ambientali e produttivi che i designer italiani hanno sviluppato quasi geneticamente.Il saggio indaga l’evoluzione delle metodologie progettuali nei processi di innovazione, partendo dall’analisi critica dei principali approcci teorici utilizzati nei sistemi aziendali, educativi e sociali. Lo scambio di idee, bisogni, esigenze, sviluppato attraverso processi condivisi, genera applicazioni in diversi ambiti della cultura del progetto. L’approccio Listening Design, messo a punto da un gruppo di lavoro attivo da anni sull’argomento, consente di costruire un ambiente di competenze, esperienze, professionalità in cui sperimentare un ascolto aperto e paritario e di definire soluzioni alle domande di innovazione nei differenti ambiti del design, del fashion design e della comunicazione.

Il design italiano, nella sua storia, aldilà del progetto, ha sempre espresso territori, paesaggi culturali complessi ed umanità condensati nella materia solida. Questa caratteristica così unica che connota i processi di progettazione e produzione è possibile grazie alla particolare attitudine all'ascolto dei diversi contesti sociali, ambientali e produttivi che i designer italiani hanno sviluppato quasi geneticamente. L'insieme di saggi raccolti in questo volume indaga l'evoluzione delle metodologie progettuali nei processi di innovazione, partendo dall'analisi critica dei principali approcci teorici utilizzati nei sistemi aziendali, educativi e sociali. Lo scambio di idee, bisogni, esigenze, sviluppato attraverso processi condivisi, genera applicazioni in diversi ambiti della cultura dle progetto. L'approccio Listening Design, messo a punto da un gruppo di lavoro attivo da anni sull'argomento, consente di costruire un ambiente di competenze, esperienze, professionalità in cui sperimentare un ascolto aperto e di definire soluzioni alle domande di innovazione nei diversi ambiti di design, del fashion design e della comunicazione.

WOS: 000422633100002, The European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN) aims to facilitate the exploration of alien species information in Europe, and is recognized as the information system supporting European Union Member States in the implementation of the recently published Invasive Alien Species Regulation. In this paper, we present the role and activities of the EASIN Editorial Board (EB), which is responsible for the quality assurance, safeguarding and constant improvement of EASIN. The EB is supported by a web platform that facilitates online discussions about alien species. This platform creates a virtual community by providing a forum-like interface that is moderated by the EB Members but is freely accessible to the scientific community and the general public. It allows all registered users to make comments, raise questions and share experience and expertise on alien species in Europe. Moreover, it provides a means for exchanging opinions and solving disputes in a transparent way. The overall EB activity is commonly agreed upon procedures and standards., European Commission's Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV), The authors wish to thank the European Commission's Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV) for their support. We thank also the anonymous reviewers for their useful comments and corrections.