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In search of a real definition of the biological invasion phenomenon itself

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Abstract

The many qualifying terms attributed to invasive species reveal the lack of precision surrounding the notion of biological invasion itself. In spite of several proposed definitions, some basic disagreements persist concerning characterization of the phenomenon. These primarily arise from the lack of pertinence of both of the main current criteria—the geographic (or biogeographic) criterion and the impact criterion—to what is really intended by “invasion.” Faced with this situation, it seems preferable to adopt an ontological approach allowing a return to the basic principles of the elaboration of a definition. Starting with the nature of the phenomenon itself (i.e., its essence), we try to elucidate the notion of biological invasion and we suggest a general definition compatible with most of the ideas already expressed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département d’Ecologie et de Gestion de la Biodiversité, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Université de Rennes 1, Bât 25–Avenue du Général Leclerc, 35042, Rennes cedex, France

    Loïc Valéry & Jean-Claude Lefeuvre

  2. Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, CNRS, UMR 5558, 43 boulevard du 11 Novembre 1918, Villeurbanne, 69622, France

    Hervé Fritz

  3. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, 569 Dabney Hall, Knoxville, TN, 37996-1610, USA

    Daniel Simberloff

Authors
  1. Loïc Valéry
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  2. Hervé Fritz
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  3. Jean-Claude Lefeuvre
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  4. Daniel Simberloff
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Correspondence to Loïc Valéry.

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Valéry, L., Fritz, H., Lefeuvre, JC. et al. In search of a real definition of the biological invasion phenomenon itself. Biol Invasions 10, 1345–1351 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-007-9209-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-007-9209-7

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