Naturalisation (biology)

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Naturalisation (or naturalization) is the ecological phenomenon through which a species, taxon, or population of exotic (as opposed to native) origin integrates into a given ecosystem, becoming capable of reproducing and growing in it, and proceeds to disseminate spontaneously. [1] In some instances, the presence of a species in a given ecosystem is so ancient that it cannot be presupposed whether it is native or introduced. [2]

Contents

Generally, any introduced species may (in the wild) either go extinct or naturalise in its new environment. [3]

Some populations do not sustain themselves reproductively, but exist because of continued influx from elsewhere. Such a non-sustaining population, or the individuals within it, are said to be adventive. [4] Cultivated plants, sometimes called nativars, are a major source of adventive populations.

Botany

In botany, naturalisation is the situation in which an exogenous plant reproduces and disperses on its own in a new environment. For example, northern white cedar is naturalised in the United Kingdom, where it reproduces on its own, while it is not in France, where human intervention via cuttings or seeds are essential for its dissemination.[ citation needed ]

Two categories of naturalisation are defined from two distinct parameters: one, archaeonaturalised, refers to introduction before a given time (introduced over a hundred years ago), while the second, amphinaturalised or eurynaturalised, implies a notion of spatial extension (taxon assimilated indigenous and present over a vast space, opposed to stenonaturalised).[ clarification needed ][ citation needed ]

Degrees of naturalisation

The degrees of naturalisation are defined in relation to the status of nativity or introduction of taxons or species: [2]

Zoology

Animal naturalisation is mainly carried out through breeding and by commensalism following human migrations. [5] [6]

The concerned species are thus:

It sometimes happens that a naturalised species hybridizes with a native. [6]

Introduction and origin areas

The introduction site or introduction area is the place or, in a broadlier way, the new environment where the candidate species for naturalisation takes root. It is generally opposed to the origin area, where this same species is native.

There is also a more ambiguous notion that is the "natural distribution area" or "natural distribution range", particularly when it comes to anthropophilic species or some species benefiting from anthropogenic land settlement (canals, bridges, deforestation, etc.) that have connected two previously isolated areas (e.g. the Suez Canal, which causes Lessepsian migration).

Impact on the ecosystem

Naturalisation is sometimes done with human help in order to replace another species having suffered directly or indirectly from anthropogenic activities, or deemed less profitable for human use. [7]

Naturalised species may become invasive species if they become sufficiently abundant to have an adverse effect on native species (e.g. microbes affected by invasive plants [8] ) or on biotope. [9]

Examples of naturalised species that have become invasive include the European rabbit, native to Europe and which abounds in Australia; or the Japanese knotweed which is invading Europe and America where it is considered to be amongst the one hundred most invasive species in the 21st century. [10] Apart from direct competition between native and introduced populations, genetic pollution by hybridization can add up cumulatively to environmental effects that compromise the conservation of native populations. [11]

Some naturalised species, such as palms, can act as ecosystem engineers, by changing the habitat and creating new niches that can sometimes have positive effects on an ecosystem. Potential and/or perceived positive impacts of naturalised species are less studied than potential and/or perceived negative impacts. [12]

However, the impact on local species is not easy to assess in a short period. For instance, the African sacred ibis ( Threskiornis aethiopicus ) escaped in 1990 from an animal park in Morbihan (France), gave rise to an eradication campaign in 2008. In 2013, however, the CNRS stated that this bird species is not a threat in France, and may even promote Eurasian spoonbill and limit the development of the invasive Louisiana crayfish. [13]

See also

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An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native species that become harmful to their native environment after human alterations to its food web. Since the 20th century, invasive species have become serious economic, social, and environmental threats worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feral</span> Wild-living but normally domestic animal or plant that has returned to the wild.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Introduced species</span> Species introduced by human activity

An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there by human activity, directly or indirectly, and either deliberately or accidentally. Non-native species can have various effects on the local ecosystem. Introduced species that become established and spread beyond the place of introduction are considered naturalized. The process of human-caused introduction is distinguished from biological colonization, in which species spread to new areas through "natural" (non-human) means such as storms and rafting. The Latin expression neobiota captures the characteristic that these species are new biota to their environment in terms of established biological network relationships. Neobiota can further be divided into neozoa and neophyta (plants).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biological dispersal</span> Movement of individuals from their birth site to a breeding site

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References

  1. ↑ "Definitions". Weeds Gone Wild. Archived from the original on 4 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  2. 1 2 Da Lage, Antoine; Métailié, Georges (2015). Dictionnaire de biogéographie végétale. French National Centre for Scientific Research. p. 47. ISBN   9782271085870.
  3. ↑ Dong, Bi-Cheng; Yang, Qiang; Kinlock, Nicole L.; Pouteau, Robin; Pyšek, Petr; Weigelt, Patrick; Yu, Fei-Hai; Van Kleunen, Mark (2024). "Naturalization of introduced plants is driven by life-form-dependent cultivation biases". Diversity and Distributions. 30 (1): 55–70. Bibcode:2024DivDi..30...55D. doi: 10.1111/ddi.13788 .
  4. ↑ Wagner, Warren L.; Herbst, Derral R.; Sohmer, Sy H. (1999). Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i (Revised ed.). Hololulu: Bishop Museum Press.
  5. ↑ Pyšek, Petr; et al. (Vojtěch Jarošík, Philip E. Hulme, Ingolf Kühn, Jan Wild, Margarita Arianoutsou, Sven Bacher, Francois Chiron, Viktoras Didžiulis, Franz Essl, Piero Genovesi, Francesca Gherardi, Martin Hejda, Salit Kark, Philip W. Lambdon, Marie-Laure Desprez-Loustau, Wolfgang Nentwig, Jan Pergl, Katja Poboljšaj, Wolfgang Rabitsch, Alain Roques, David B. Roy, Susan Shirley, Wojciech Solarz, Montserrat Vilà, and Marten Winterd) (2010). "Disentangling the role of environmental and human pressures on biological invasions across Europe". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 107 (27): 12157–12162. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1002314107 . PMC   2901442 . PMID   20534543.
  6. 1 2 Martin-Albarracin, Valeria L.; Amico, Guillermo C.; Simberloff, Daniel; Nuñez, Martin A. (2015). "Impact of Non-Native Birds on Native Ecosystems: A Global Analysis". PLOS One . 10 (11): e0143070. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1043070M. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143070 . PMC   4648570 . PMID   26576053.
  7. ↑ Martin-Albarracin, Valeria L.; Nuñez, Martin A.; Amico, Guillermo C. (2015). "Replacement of native by non-native animal communities assisted by human introduction and management on Isla Victoria, Nahuel Huapi National Park". PeerJ . 3: e1328. doi: 10.7717/peerj.1328 . PMC   4662593 . PMID   26623176.
  8. ↑ Stefanowicz, Anna M.; Stanek, Małgorzata; Majewska, Marta L.; Nobis, Marcin; Zubek, Szymon (2019). "Invasive plant species identity affects soil microbial communities in a mesocosm experiment". Applied Soil Ecology. 136: 168–177. Bibcode:2019AppSE.136..168S. doi:10.1016/j.apsoil.2019.01.004. S2CID   91818852.
  9. ↑ Langmaier, Magdalena; Lapin, Katharina (2020). "A Systematic Review of the Impact of Invasive Alien Plants on Forest Regeneration in European Temperate Forests". Frontiers in Plant Science. 11: 524969. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2020.524969 . PMC   7509433 . PMID   33013958.
  10. ↑ List compiled from the Global Invasive Species Database, compiled by the Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) group 'IUCN
  11. ↑ Mooney, Harold A.; Cleland, E. E. (2001). "The evolutionary impact of invasive species". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 98 (10): 5446–5451. Bibcode:2001PNAS...98.5446M. doi: 10.1073/pnas.091093398 . PMC   33232 . PMID   11344292.
  12. ↑ Fehr, Vincent; Buitenwerf, Robert; Svenning, Jens-Christian (November 2020). "Non-native palms (Arecaceae) as generators of novel ecosystems: A global assessment". Diversity and Distributions. 26 (11): 1523-1538 (. Bibcode:2020DivDi..26.1523F. doi: 10.1111/ddi.13150 . JSTOR   26937448.
  13. ↑ Marion, Loïc (April 2013). "Is the sacred ibis a real threat to biodiversity? Long-term study of its diet in the introduction zone compared to its area of origin". Comptes Rendus Biologies (in French). 336 (4): 207–220. doi:10.1016/j.crvi.2013.05.001. PMID   23849724.
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