Invasive species show the footprint of colonialism and trade
Plants and animals have always migrated from one continent to another. Due to human activity, however, migration rates are much higher now than they have been before. This not only threatens the existence of less competitive species restricted to a certain region. Invasive species may impose stress on complete ecosystems. High migration rates of plants and animals in our times are therefore responsible for a good part of the loss of biodiversity experienced all over the world. Turbelin and colleagues have summarized data on invasive species from various databases this way producing a comprehensive picture of the extent and direction of migrations. Amongst their results they demonstrate that colonial history still has a dominant impact on species migration, with small islands, areas in America, as well as New Zealand being net receivers of species. Europe, Central Asia and Africa, in contrast had a more balanced ratio of received and exported species. The authors identified Africa and Central Asia as two regions of particular future concern, giving the increasing importance of trade and the lack of regulations in these areas.
Source: Turbelin et al., Global Ecology and Biogeography 26, 78 – 92
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