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Are urban systems beneficial, detrimental, or indifferent for biological invasion?

  • URBAN INVASIONS
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Abstract

Urban environments are often seen as unique or degraded habitats that both present hardships for some sensitive species and provide opportunities to others. Non-indigenous species (NIS) are commonly referenced in the latter group, and are comprised of species that can tolerate the unique conditions or capitalize on the opportunities found in urban environments. Moreover, these urban beneficiaries may be those that normally cannot overcome competitive interactions in intact native communities, but find opportunity to flourish in urban habitats. We ask the question: do NIS benefit from urbanization? We answer this question using three strategies. First, we explore the problem conceptually, using community assembly theory. Second, we perform a broad literature review. Finally, we analyze studies with sufficient information using a meta-analysis. We show that the available evidence supports the proposition that NIS benefit from urbanization, with NIS obtaining higher abundances and greater diversity in more urbanized habitats. There were only 43 studies that measured NIS abundance and diversity while adequately quantifying the degree of urbanization surrounding plots, and effect sizes (measured by Hedge’s D) reveal that NIS obtain higher abundances in more urbanized habitats, and especially for invertebrates. Despite the intense interest in NIS dynamics and impacts, we note a general dearth of robust studies that adequately quantify ‘urbanization’, and we end with a general call for more detailed research.

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Acknowledgements

An early version of this paper was presented at the workshop on “non-native species in urban environments: Patterns, processes, impacts and challenges” that was hosted by the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology in Stellenbosch, South Africa, in November 2016. We are grateful to the helpful comments and suggestions from D. Richardson and two anonymous reviewers. We wish to acknowledge support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (#386,151), an Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation (ER13-09-121), and the TD Chair of Urban Forest Conservation and Biology endowment, all awarded to MWC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks St., Toronto, ON, Canada

    Marc W. Cadotte, Simone Louise E. Yasui & J. Scott MacIvor

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Marc W. Cadotte, Simone Louise E. Yasui, Stuart Livingstone & J. Scott MacIvor

  3. School of Earth, Environmental and Biological Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George St., Brisbane City, Australia

    Simone Louise E. Yasui

  4. Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Stuart Livingstone

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  1. Marc W. Cadotte
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  4. J. Scott MacIvor
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Correspondence to Marc W. Cadotte.

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Guest Editors: Mirijam Gaertner, John R. U. Wilson, Marc W. Cadotte, J. Scott MacIvor, Rafael D. Zenni and David M. Richardson/Urban Invasions.

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Cadotte, M.W., Yasui, S.L.E., Livingstone, S. et al. Are urban systems beneficial, detrimental, or indifferent for biological invasion?. Biol Invasions 19, 3489–3503 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-017-1586-y

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