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Legislation on biological invasions has been evolving in recent decades. The use of lists of harmful alien organisms (LHAO) is becoming a widespread policy practice in many countries. LHAO aims to prevent the introduction of undesirable organisms at the pre-border level, regulate their use within the country and deter their spread. However, a systematic review and comparison of the current legislations is lacking. It remains unknown whether there are gaps or weaknesses that may compromise and effective strategy against biological invasions. In this study, a total of 77 LHAO from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America were evaluated and compared in terms of the taxonomic criteria of inclusion, the impacts of concern and the activities regulated. The number of LHAO has increased exponentially since 1924. Countries widely varied in the number of lists. Within a country, LHAO are scattered across different regulations that consider different impacts and regulate activities from introduction to management. The number of taxa ranged between 0.15 and 55.4 taxa km-2 in the USA and New Zealand, respectively. These lists totaled 21,029 records of 18,149 different taxa, showing a prevalence of taxa listed as species (rather than genera of higher ranks). Primary attention is paid to the kingdoms Animalia and Plantae. Taxa affecting livelihood/uses were more prevalent than those related to biodiversity and human health impacts. The most common regulations concern trade and tenure followed by use. This study reveals the need for more comprehensive (intersectoral) regulations on invasive alien species within countries as well as the development of homogeneous regulations adapted to the globalized world. ; Peer reviewed

The comparative analysis of past intro- ductions has become a major approach in investi- gating the rules governing invasions, yet their utility to understand the invasion process is not exempt of problems. The relevance of some of these problems has not yet been fully appreciated, but it has now become clear that not taking them into account may lead to invalid conclusions. Taking examples of the plants' and birds' literature, this paper reviews these difficulties by discussing the comparative analysis of region invasibility. The difficulties include biased information toward successful introductions, con- founded effects of many explanatory variables, statistical non-independence of introduction events and taxonomic levels, and inappropriate definition of the units of study. Provided that there is good information on introduction events at the appropriate spatial scale, reliable results may be obtained by using modelling techniques that control for the effects of introduction effort and species properties while deal- ing with spatial and phylogenetic non-independence of introduction events. In conclusion, although important progress can be made in understanding the factors behind invasibility of regions by the comparative analysis of the past introductions, this will only be possible by acknowledging the existence of biases and confounding effects in historical intro- ductions and by using appropriate methods to deal with them ; Peer reviewed

BackgroundDespite an increase in inclusive studies in recent years, research on the views of the people with and without disabilities who have participated in these studies is scarce. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions and views of advisors with intellectual disabilities and non‐disabled researchers who collaborated together on a joint project to study transition to adulthood.Materials and MethodsTwo questionnaires were devised, one for advisors and one for researchers; two focus groups were held with people with intellectual disabilities, three focus groups with researchers, and one focus group with all participants together. Thematic analysis was used for the data analysis.ResultsThe advisors valued this experience as an opportunity to learn new skills, freely express themselves on matters that affect them, and engage in a socially valued activity. The researchers considered that the participation of people with intellectual disabilities contributed to improving the quality of the research.ConclusionsThe study provides a better understanding of inclusive research processes by taking into account participants' views.

Europe has adopted innovative legislation on invasive species that could signal a step-change in the global response to biological invasion threats. The discussion that took place within EU institutions—EU Parliament, European Commission, and the Member States—permitted significant improvement on the initial proposal presented by the European Commission, including removing the initial 50 species cap, explicitly allowing national authorities to take stringent measures on invasive species of national concern, and encouraging coordinated approaches to invasive species in boundary areas. An independent ''Scientific Forum'' to inform implementation has been introduced, and the EU Regulation will permit only limited licensing for specific activities using invasive alien species. However, the real strength of the legislation will largely depend on the decisions of a committee of representatives of the Member States, with the risk that the real enforcement will be limited by political and economic, rather than scientific, considerations. In this regard it will be crucial to set up a framework of roles and responsibilities among the different bodies that ensure transparent and objective decision processes. Also, it will be essential that adequate resources be secured for implementing the provisions of the legislation. Finally, the regulatory approach introduced by the Regulation will have only a limited impact unless European citizens raise their awareness of this threat and adopt more responsible behaviours ; Peer reviewed

Aim Although biological invasions represent a major cause of biodiversity loss, the actual mechanisms driving species extinctions remain insufficiently understood. Here we investigate the role of three processes as drivers of phylogenetic loss in invaded local plant communities, namely the 'biotic resistance', 'environmental filtering' and 'functional equivalence' hypotheses. Location Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean). Methods We quantified the phylogenetic diversity and structure of 109 pairs of invaded and non-invaded local plant communities from two Mediterranean islands. Each pair contained one control plot and one plot invaded either by the deciduous tree Ailanthus altissima, the succulent subshrubs Carpobrotus spp. or the pseudoannual geophyte Oxalis pes-caprae. We combined generalized linear models, analyses of phylogenetic community structure and generalized linear mixed models using a Markov chain Monte Carlo technique (MCMCglmm) to contrast the 'biotic resistance', 'environmental filtering' and 'functional equivalence' hypotheses. Results While the phylogenetic structure of the non-invaded communities was not more clustered or overdispersed than expected by chance, minimum phylogenetic distance to the invasive species increased in invaded assemblages, in which the magnitude of phylogenetic diversity loss ranged from 6 to 37% depending on the invader's identity. Invader or island identity did not explain the probabilities of native species becoming locally extinct. Rather, the likelihood of extinction was mainly explained by species abundance, with scarcer species exhibiting a higher chance of becoming locally extinct. Species identity explained a small fraction of the variation in extinction risk (12%), independently of each species' evolutionary history. Main conclusions The most relevant driver of local extinction is a stochastic process where less abundant species tend to disappear more frequently irrespective of their evolutionary history. This has strong implications for conservation because it suggests that in the study region the invaders are unlikely to drive regional and global extinctions except in cases where the native species is already rare. ; Research was partially founded by the 5th EU Framework project EPIDEMIE (Contract no. EVK2-CT-2000-00074), the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation project Consolider-Ingenio MONTES (CSD2008-00040), and through the Severo Ochoa Program for Centres of Excellence in R+D+I (SEV-2012-0262). D.S. was supported by a Proyecto de Investigación (ref. CGL2013-47448-P) from the Spanish Government ; Peer reviewed

''One hundred worst'' lists of alien species of the greatest concern proved useful for raising awareness of the risks and impacts of biological invasions amongst the general public, politicians and stakeholders. All lists so far have been based on expert opinion and primarily aimed at representativeness of the taxonomic and habitat diversity rather than at quantifying the harm the alien species cause. We used the generic impact scoring system (GISS) to rank 486 alien species established in Europe from a wide range of taxonomic groups to identify those with the highest environmental and socioeconomic impact. GISS assigns 12 categories of impact, each quantified on a scale from 0 (no impact detectable) to 5 (the highest impact possible). We ranked species by their total sum of scores and by the number of the highest impact scores. We also compared the listing based on GISS with other expert-based lists of the ''worst'' invaders. We propose a list of 149 alien species, comprising 54 plants, 49 invertebrates, 40 vertebrates and 6 fungi. Among the highest ranking species are one bird (Branta canadensis), four mammals (Rattus norvegicus, Ondatra zibethicus, Cervus nippon, Muntiacus reevesi), one crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), one mite(Varroa destructor), and four plants (Acacia dealbata, Lantana camara, Pueraria lobata, Eichhornia crassipes). In contrast to other existing expert-based ''worst'' lists, the GISS-based list given here highlights some alien species with high impacts that are not represented on any other list. The GISS provides an objective and transparent method to aid prioritization of alien species for management according to their impacts, applicable across taxa and habitats. Our ranking can also be used for justifying inclusion on lists such as the alien species of Union concern of the European Commission, and to fulfil Aichi target 9. ; Peer reviewed

W. Solarz, K. Najberek, A. Pociecha & E. Wilk-Woźniak (2017, Diversity and Distributions, 23, 113–117) published a letter in Diversity and Distributions debating our view that waterbirds are important vectors of alien species (C. Reynolds, N. A. F. Miranda & G. S. Cumming, 2015 Diversity and Distributions, 21, 744–754; A. J. Green, 2016 Diversity and Distributions, 22, 239–247) and question whether future research into the mechanisms under-pinning this phenomenon can be advantageous for the practical management of alien species. Additionally, Solarz et al. suggest that human activities are the primary source of all alien species introductions and that waterbirds may only act as vectors of secondary dispersal. In this letter, we respond to several arguments raised by the authors surrounding the relevance of waterbird-mediated dispersal in the introduction and spread of alien species. We emphasize the partly deterministic nature of waterbird dispersal and the significance of long-distance dispersal events (and hence the potential for primary introductions of new alien species across political boundaries). Finally, we reaffirm the importance of further research into dispersal by birds to improve our capacity to foresee and manage invasions of those alien species with strong capacity to spread via avian vectors. ; Peer reviewed

Aim Recent studies using vegetation plots have demonstrated that habitat type is a good predictor of the level of plant invasion, expressed as the proportion of alien to all species. At local scale, habitat types explain the level of invasion much better than alien propagule pressure. Moreover, it has been shown that patterns of habitat invasion are consistent among European regions with contrasting climates, bio- geography, history and socioeconomic background. Here we use these findings as a basis for mapping the level of plant invasion in Europe. Location European Union and some adjacent countries. Methods We used 52,480 vegetation plots from Catalonia (NE Spain), Czech Republic and Great Britain to quantify the levels of invasion by neophytes (alien plant species introduced after ad 1500) in 33 habitat types. Then we estimated the proportion of each of these habitat types in CORINE land-cover classes and calculated the level of invasion for each class. We projected the levels of invasion on the CORINE land-cover map of Europe, extrapolating Catalonian data to the Mediter- ranean bioregion, Czech data to the Continental bioregion, British data to the British Isles and combined Czech–British data to the Atlantic and Boreal bioregions. Results The highest levels of invasion were predicted for agricultural, urban and industrial land-cover classes, low levels for natural and semi-natural grasslands and most woodlands, and the lowest levels for sclerophyllous vegetation, heathlands and peatlands. The resulting map of the level of invasion reflected the distribution of these land-cover classes across Europe. Main conclusions High level of invasion is predicted in lowland areas of the temperate zone of western and central Europe and low level in the boreal zone and mountain regions across the continent. Low level of invasion is also predicted in the Mediterranean region except its coastline, river corridors and areas with irrigated agricultural land. ; Peer reviewed

BackgroundSupport from professionals plays an important role in helping people with intellectual disabilities to live an independent life. This research aims to analyse the role played by support professionals based on the perceptions of the professionals and self‐advocates with intellectual disabilities. The research was conducted in Catalonia (Spain).MethodA total of 33 interviews were conducted with front‐line managers and 10 focus groups with 72 self‐advocates. These were recorded and transcribed, and then analysed using thematic content analysis.ResultsSelf‐advocates particularly value professionals' interpersonal skills and emotional support. Front‐line managers and self‐advocates highlight training actions aimed at enhancing autonomy in the home and propose fostering natural supports and increasing the involvement of people with disabilities.ConclusionsMaking progress in the rights of people with intellectual disabilities to an independent life requires requires transforming the support model, promoting decision making among people with intellectual disabilities, and strengthening interpersonal skills linked to emotional support in the training of professionals.

The number of alien species arriving within new regions has increased at unprecedented rates. Managing the pathways through which alien species arrive and spread is important to reduce the threat of biological invasions. Harmonising information on pathways across individual sectors and user groups is therefore critical to underpin policy and action. The European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN) has been developed to easily facilitate open access to data of alien species in Europe. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Pathway Classification framework has become a global standard for the classification of pathways. We followed a structured approach to assign pathway information within EASIN for a subset of alien species in Europe, which covered 4169 species, spanning taxonomic groups and environments. We document constraints and challenges associated with implementing the CBD Pathway Classification framework and propose potential amendments to increase clarity. This study is unique in the scope of taxonomic coverage and also in the inclusion of primary (independent introductions to Europe) and secondary (means of dispersal for species expansion within Europe, after their initial introduction) modes of introduction. In addition, we summarise the patterns of introduction pathways within this subset of alien species within the context of Europe. Based on the analyses, we confirm that the CBD Pathway Classification framework offers a robust, hierarchical system suitable for the classification of alien species introduction and spread across a wide range of taxonomic groups and environments. However, simple modifications could improve interpretation of the pathway categories ensuring consistent application across databases and information systems at local, national, regional, continental and global scales. Improving consistency would also help in the development of pathway action plans, as required by EU legislation. ; European Commission ENV.B.2/SER/2015/0037rl ; COST Action CA17122 ; Czech Ministry of ...

Globalization and economic growth are widely recognized as important drivers of biological invasions. Consequently, there is an increasing need for governments to address the role of international trade in their strategies to prevent species introductions. However, many of the most problematic alien species are not recent arrivals but were introduced several decades ago. Hence, current patterns of alien-species richness may better reflect historical rather than contemporary human activities, a phenomenon which might be called "invasion debt." Here, we show that across 10 taxonomic groups (vascular plants, bryophytes, fungi, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, terrestrial insects, and aquatic invertebrates) in 28 European countries, current numbers of alien species established in the wild are indeed more closely related to indicators of socioeconomic activity from the year 1900 than to those from 2000, although the majority of species introductions occurred during the second half of the 20th century. The strength of the historical signal varies among taxonomic groups, with those possessing good capabilities for dispersal (birds, insects) more strongly associated with recent socioeconomic drivers. Nevertheless, our results suggest a considerable historical legacy for the majority of the taxa analyzed. The consequences of the current high levels of socioeconomic activity on the extent of biological invasions will thus probably not be completely realized until several decades into the future. ; Peer reviewed

1. Pathways describe the processes that result in the introduction of alien species from one location to another. A framework is proposed to facilitate the comparative analysis of invasion pathways by a wide range of taxa in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Comparisons with a range of data helped identify existing gaps in current knowledge of pathways and highlight the limitations of existing legislation to manage introductions of alien species. The scheme aims for universality but uses the European Union as a case study for the regulatory perspectives. 2. Alien species may arrive and enter a new region through three broad mechanisms: importation of a commodity, arrival of a transport vector, and/or natural spread from a neighbouring region where the species is itself alien. These three mechanisms result in six principal pathways: release, escape, contaminant, stowaway, corridor and unaided. 3. Alien species transported as commodities may be introduced as a deliberate release or as an escape from captivity. Many species are not intentionally transported but arrive as a contaminant of a commodity, for example pathogens and pests. Stowaways are directly associated with human transport but arrive independently of a specific commodity, for example organisms transported in ballast water, cargo and airfreight. The corridor pathway highlights the role transport infrastructures play in the introduction of alien species. The unaided pathway describes situations where natural spread results in alien species arriving into a new region from a donor region where it is also alien. 4. Vertebrate pathways tend to be characterized as deliberate releases, invertebrates as contaminants and plants as escapes. Pathogenic micro-organisms and fungi are generally introduced as contaminants of their hosts. The corridor and unaided pathways are often ignored in pathway assessments but warrant further detailed consideration. 5. Synthesis and applications. Intentional releases and escapes should be straightforward to monitor and regulate but, in practice, developing legislation has proved difficult. New introductions continue to occur through contaminant, stowaway, corridor and unaided pathways. These pathways represent special challenges for management and legislation. The present framework should enable these trends to be monitored more clearly and hopefully lead to the development of appropriate regulations or codes of practice to stem the number of future introductions. ; Peer reviewed

Scientific and grey literature on invasive alien species (IAS) is conditioned by social, economic and political priorities, editorial preferences and species and ecosystem characteristics. This leads to knowledge gaps and mismatches between scientific research interests and management needs. We reviewed the literature on IAS management in Spain found in Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and Dialnet to identify key deficiencies and priority research areas. The collected literature was classified, employing features describing formal aspects and content. We used bibliometric and keyword co-occurrence network analyses to assess the relationship between features and reveal the existence of additional topics. Most of the compiled documents (n = 388) were focused on terrestrial ecosystems and inland waters, whereas marine and urban ecosystems were under-represented. The literature was largely generic and not species-specific, focusing on raising awareness and proposing changes on current regulation as prominent approaches to prevent further introductions. The compiled authors exhibited many clear publishing preferences (e.g. language or document type), but less regarding target taxa. In addition, there was a strong association between species and the different features considered, especially between the methodological approach (e.g. review, field experiment) and the primary emphasis of study (i.e. basic/theoretical, applied or interdisciplinary). This indicates that research on IAS has had a strong species-specific focus. References about terrestrial species focused mainly on vascular plants, whereas references about inland waters were mostly on fishes and the giant reed (Arundo donax), which has been managed with partial success. Animal culling and plant removal were the most frequent eradication and small-scale control treatments, whereas the documents addressing wider spatial scales were largely theoretical. Consequently, the success of described treatments was largely uncertain. Spanish invasion science ...