Emerging Alien Species and Their Invasion Processes—2nd Edition
A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Diversity".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 April 2026 | Viewed by 1065
Special Issue Editor
Interests: biological invasions; conservation ecology; environmental sustainability research; exotic plants; protected area biodiversity management; South African biodiversity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Invasions of alien species into ecosystems can have important ecological and economic consequences. Some estimates suggest that invasive species are the second greatest threat to biological diversity worldwide and cost billions of dollars economically. Although invasion processes and the intentional or unintentional anthropogenically supported establishment of biota in a new ecosystem have occurred for centuries, the relevance of invasion processes is still increasing, with the rapidly evolving functional connectivity, due to globalisation. Therefore, the numbers of alien species are increasing at an alarming rate globally.
Current trends suggest that predictive models can help the development of management strategies that match the rate change in the spread and associated impacts. Additionally, ecological approaches can provide helpful information on the relationship between alien invasions and biological responses; comparative research between invaders and closely related native species can reveal functional traits involved in the invasion success.
In this Special Issue, we invite the submission of contributions that address the emerging alien species’ issues in various ecosystems from natural resources conservation, social dimensions, management and control, including specific interactions, adaptation, patterns of introduction and expansion, responses of natural systems and their functions, and services, etc. Studies presenting case studies at different spatial scales—national regional, continental and global— are most appreciated if they are supported by reliable data sets and are underpinned by accurate scientific protocols.
Dr. Thabiso Michael Mokotjomela
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- invasive species
- ecological restoration
- biodiversity conservation
- ecosystem services
- biological invasions
- invasive species impacts
- invasion resistance
- community stability
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