Typology of the ecological impacts of biological invasions

Laís Carneiro; Boris Leroy; César Capinha; Corey J.A. Bradshaw; Sandro Bertolino; Jane A. Catford; Morelia Camacho-Cervantes; Jamie Bojko; Gabriel Klippel; Sabrina Kumschick; Daniel Pincheira-Donoso; Jonathan D. Tonkin; Brian D. Fath; Josie South; Eléna Manfrini; Tad Dallas; Franck Courchamp

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2025.03.010

Typology of the ecological impacts of biological invasions

Laís Carneiro^*, Boris Leroy, César Capinha, Corey J.A. Bradshaw, Sandro Bertolino, Jane A. Catford, Morelia Camacho-Cervantes, Jamie Bojko, Gabriel Klippel, Sabrina Kumschick, Daniel Pincheira-Donoso, Jonathan D. Tonkin, Brian D. Fath, Josie South, Eléna Manfrini, Tad Dallas, Franck Courchamp

^*Corresponding author for this work

Fenner School of Environment & Society

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Biological invasions alter ecosystems by disrupting ecological processes that can degrade biodiversity, harm human health, and cause massive economic burdens. Existing frameworks to classify the ecological impacts either miss many types of impact or conflate mechanisms (causes) with the impacts themselves (consequences). We propose a comprehensive typology of 19 types of ecological impact across six levels of ecological organisation. This allows more accurate diagnosis of the cause of impact and can help triage management options to tackle each impact–mechanism combination. We integrated the typology with broad ecological concepts such as energy, mass, and information flow and storage. By highlighting cascading effects across multiple levels, this typology provides a clearer framework for documenting, and communicating invasion impacts, thereby improving management and research.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	563-574
Number of pages	12
Journal	Trends in Ecology and Evolution
Volume	40
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2025.03.010
Publication status	Published - Jun 2025

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Carneiro, L., Leroy, B., Capinha, C., Bradshaw, C. J. A., Bertolino, S., Catford, J. A., Camacho-Cervantes, M., Bojko, J., Klippel, G., Kumschick, S., Pincheira-Donoso, D., Tonkin, J. D., Fath, B. D., South, J., Manfrini, E., Dallas, T., & Courchamp, F. (2025). Typology of the ecological impacts of biological invasions. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 40(6), 563-574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2025.03.010

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title = "Typology of the ecological impacts of biological invasions",

abstract = "Biological invasions alter ecosystems by disrupting ecological processes that can degrade biodiversity, harm human health, and cause massive economic burdens. Existing frameworks to classify the ecological impacts either miss many types of impact or conflate mechanisms (causes) with the impacts themselves (consequences). We propose a comprehensive typology of 19 types of ecological impact across six levels of ecological organisation. This allows more accurate diagnosis of the cause of impact and can help triage management options to tackle each impact–mechanism combination. We integrated the typology with broad ecological concepts such as energy, mass, and information flow and storage. By highlighting cascading effects across multiple levels, this typology provides a clearer framework for documenting, and communicating invasion impacts, thereby improving management and research.",

keywords = "ecological impact classification, environmental effect, impact type, invasive alien species, non-native species",

author = "La{\'i}s Carneiro and Boris Leroy and C{\'e}sar Capinha and Bradshaw, \{Corey J.A.\} and Sandro Bertolino and Catford, \{Jane A.\} and Morelia Camacho-Cervantes and Jamie Bojko and Gabriel Klippel and Sabrina Kumschick and Daniel Pincheira-Donoso and Tonkin, \{Jonathan D.\} and Fath, \{Brian D.\} and Josie South and El{\'e}na Manfrini and Tad Dallas and Franck Courchamp",

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year = "2025",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1016/j.tree.2025.03.010",

language = "English",

volume = "40",

pages = "563--574",

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Carneiro, L, Leroy, B, Capinha, C, Bradshaw, CJA, Bertolino, S, Catford, JA, Camacho-Cervantes, M, Bojko, J, Klippel, G, Kumschick, S, Pincheira-Donoso, D, Tonkin, JD, Fath, BD, South, J, Manfrini, E, Dallas, T & Courchamp, F 2025, 'Typology of the ecological impacts of biological invasions', Trends in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 563-574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2025.03.010

TY - JOUR

T1 - Typology of the ecological impacts of biological invasions

AU - Carneiro, Laís

AU - Leroy, Boris

AU - Capinha, César

AU - Bradshaw, Corey J.A.

AU - Bertolino, Sandro

AU - Catford, Jane A.

AU - Camacho-Cervantes, Morelia

AU - Bojko, Jamie

AU - Klippel, Gabriel

AU - Kumschick, Sabrina

AU - Pincheira-Donoso, Daniel

AU - Tonkin, Jonathan D.

AU - Fath, Brian D.

AU - South, Josie

AU - Manfrini, Eléna

AU - Dallas, Tad

AU - Courchamp, Franck

PY - 2025/6

Y1 - 2025/6

N2 - Biological invasions alter ecosystems by disrupting ecological processes that can degrade biodiversity, harm human health, and cause massive economic burdens. Existing frameworks to classify the ecological impacts either miss many types of impact or conflate mechanisms (causes) with the impacts themselves (consequences). We propose a comprehensive typology of 19 types of ecological impact across six levels of ecological organisation. This allows more accurate diagnosis of the cause of impact and can help triage management options to tackle each impact–mechanism combination. We integrated the typology with broad ecological concepts such as energy, mass, and information flow and storage. By highlighting cascading effects across multiple levels, this typology provides a clearer framework for documenting, and communicating invasion impacts, thereby improving management and research.

AB - Biological invasions alter ecosystems by disrupting ecological processes that can degrade biodiversity, harm human health, and cause massive economic burdens. Existing frameworks to classify the ecological impacts either miss many types of impact or conflate mechanisms (causes) with the impacts themselves (consequences). We propose a comprehensive typology of 19 types of ecological impact across six levels of ecological organisation. This allows more accurate diagnosis of the cause of impact and can help triage management options to tackle each impact–mechanism combination. We integrated the typology with broad ecological concepts such as energy, mass, and information flow and storage. By highlighting cascading effects across multiple levels, this typology provides a clearer framework for documenting, and communicating invasion impacts, thereby improving management and research.

KW - ecological impact classification

KW - environmental effect

KW - impact type

KW - invasive alien species

KW - non-native species

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105003661120

U2 - 10.1016/j.tree.2025.03.010

DO - 10.1016/j.tree.2025.03.010

M3 - Review article

C2 - 40280812

AN - SCOPUS:105003661120

SN - 0169-5347

VL - 40

SP - 563

EP - 574

JO - Trends in Ecology and Evolution

JF - Trends in Ecology and Evolution

IS - 6

ER -

Typology of the ecological impacts of biological invasions

Abstract

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