Show Me the Numbers: What Data Currently Exist for Non-Native Species in the USA?

• Published in: Frontiers in ecology and the environment Vol. 4; no. 8; pp. 414 - 418
• Main Authors: Crall, Alycia W., Meyerson, Laura A., Stohlgren, Thomas J., Jarnevich, Catherine S., Newman, Gregory J., Graham, Jim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ecological Society of America 01-10-2006
• Subjects: Datasets; Ecological invasion; Human ecology; Introduced species; Invasive species; Land surveying; Metadata; Plants; Population ecology; Reviews; Taxa
• ISSN: 1540-9295; 1540-9309
• DOI: 10.1890/1540-9295(2006)4[414:SMTNWD]2.0.CO;2

Non-native species continue to be introduced to the United States from other countries via trade and transportation, creating a growing need for early detection and rapid response to new invaders. It is therefore increasingly important to synthesize existing data on non-native species abundance and distributions. However, no comprehensive analysis of existing data has been undertaken for non-native species, and there have been few efforts to improve collaboration. We therefore conducted a survey to determine what datasets currently exist for non-native species in the US from county, state, multi-state region, national, and global scales. We identified 319 datasets and collected metadata for 79% of these. Through this study, we provide a better understanding of extant non-native species datasets and identify data gaps (ie taxonomic, spatial, and temporal) to help guide future survey, research, and predictive modeling efforts.