Impacts of biological invasions: what’s what and the way forward

Study of the impacts of biological invasions, a pervasive component of global change, has generated remarkable understanding of the mechanisms and consequences of the spread of introduced populations. The growing field of invasion science, poised at a crossroads where ecology, social sciences, resource management, and public perception meet, is increasingly exposed to critical scrutiny from several perspectives. Although the rate of biological invasions, elucidation of their consequences, and knowledge about mitigation are growing rapidly, the very need for invasion science is disputed. Here, we highlight recent progress in understanding invasion impacts and management, and discuss the challenges that the discipline faces in its science and interactions with society.The workshop that spawned this paper was sponsored by CEFE-CNRS, the University of Montpellier (UM2) and the Région Languedoc Roussillon. P.P. was supported by grant no. P504/11/1028 (Czech Science Foundation), long-term research development project no. RVO 67985939 (Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic), institutional resources of Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, and acknowledges the support by Praemium Academiae award from the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. D.A.W. was supported by a Wallenberg Scholars award, E.G.B. by the Spanish Ministry of Science (projects CGL2009-12877-C02-01 and CSD2009- 00065), M.V. by the Spanish Ministry of Science projects CGL2009-7515 and CSD2008-00040 and the Junta de Andalucıía RNM-4031, and F.C. by the French ANR (2009 PEXT 010 01).