Abstract
This study analyzes the natural and social factors influencing the emergence and publicization of the invasive status of a fast-growing bush, gorse (Ulex europaeus), by comparison between countries on a global scale. We used documents collected on the web in a standardized way. The results show that in all the countries studied, there are several public statuses attributed to gorse. The invasive status is the one that is most shared. The other most frequently encountered status are those of noxious weed, and those of which are economically useful. The invasive status is publicized in nearly all countries, including those where gorse is almost absent. We quantified the publicization of the invasive gorse status of gorse by an indicator with 5 levels, and then performed a multivariate analysis that combines natural and social explanatory variables. The results lead us to propose the concept of invasive niche, which is the set of natural and social parameters that allow a species to be considered invasive in a given socio-ecosystem
Highlights
Biological invasions, which are considered part of global change and a major threat to biodiversity, are matters of nature and societies [1,2]
The status of landscaping plant is present in several countries, but it is never the most frequent, and it is expressed at 52% by non-academics
To test the concept of invasive niche on gorse, we chose to work at a global scale, which increases the heuristics of the methods but implies several limitations
Summary
Biological invasions, which are considered part of global change and a major threat to biodiversity, are matters of nature and societies [1,2] It is a matter of nature because they concern species introduced into a new territory, within a new ecosystem, that adapt, evolve biologically and genetically, and interact with other species, including humans. It is a matter of society because human activities are at the origin of their introduction, voluntary or not, because their dispersion is often promoted in the new environment, and because they impact biodiversity, society, and economy. In most administrative documents and regulations, they are called Invasive Alien Species (IAS), and a definition is provided. The first criterion is that IAS have to be “alien”, i.e., “outside their natural past or present distribution”
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