Dear Colleagues,

Invasive alien species (IAS) and climate change are two of the main drivers of change in Earth's ecosystems. Globalization was responsible for the introduction of plant species in many areas of the world. The consequent increase in propagule pressure and ever-growing human-induced disturbances pose a serious threat to native ecosystems by promoting the spread of alien plant species. New threats, and their impacts, are also emerging from climate change. According to the IPCC, human activities have caused approximately 1.0°C of global warming above pre-industrial levels (possibly reaching 1.5°C by 2052). Global warming will have long-term effects on the climate system, including increasing mean temperatures, hot extremes, and changes in precipitation patterns. The consequences of all these changes to plant populations are already becoming perceptible and can be accessed through long-term monitoring. However, to better anticipate the effects of climate change we also have to rely on ecological modelling, in-situ, and ex-situ experiments. Climate change also brings new challenges for biodiversity conservation due to the expected consequences for the spread of some IAS. To understand the effects of IAS and climate change is crucial for ecological theory and conservation/management decision-making. While many advances have been made in the last two decades, there is a constant need to increase our knowledge about these drivers of global change and understand the complexity and dynamic nature of their impacts. This is the aim of this Special Issue: to highlight new research in understanding the impacts of IAS and climate change on plant biodiversity and identify possible solutions to mitigate expected impacts.

Dr. Rui Bento Elias
Guest Editor

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• Climate change
• Ecological modelling
• Ecological monitoring
• Ex-situ experiments
• Global change
• In-situ experiments
• Invasive alien species
• Plant biodiversity.