New NeoBiota special issue explores invasions in aquatic systems

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The 13th NEOBIOTA International Conference on Biological Invasions (NEOBIOTA 2024), held in Lisbon, Portugal, brought together 421 participants from 47 countries for one of the most significant global gatherings in invasion science. Notably, this meeting featured the strongest representation of aquatic studies to date, spanning marine and freshwater systems across oral sessions, posters and workshops.

This momentum contributed to the creation of a dedicated NeoBiota Special Issue, incorporating contributions from both conference participants and other aquatic researchers. 

As outlined in the editorial paper – written by the issue’s editors Pedro Anastácio, Filipe Ribeiro and Paula Chainho – the collection comprises 23 papers organised into five themes: Responses to Environmental Stressors; Ecological Interactions and Invasion Impacts; Detection and Monitoring Tools; Management and Policy; and Global and Regional Syntheses.

Explore the articles below.

Responses to environmental stressors 

Biotic responses to abiotic drivers – such as warming, pollution or eutrophication – are central to predicting invasion success, as explored in the following articles:

  • Functional trait responses of emergent and free-floating Alternanthera philoxeroides to increasing salinity with sea level rise: stress tolerance, avoidance, and escape strategies – Grewell et al. (2025) https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.102.150325
  • Differential elemental accumulation of the signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) along an invasion gradient – Gonçalves et al. (2025) https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.102.148414  
  • Assessing the upper thermal limit constraining the physiological performance of Callinectes sapidus embryogenesis under climate warming scenarios – Rodríguez-Ruiz et al. (2025) https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.102.148122 
  • Invasive potential of Phymactis papillosa: assessing environmental tolerance and ecological impact on the Portuguese intertidal ecosystems – Pereira et al. (2025) https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.102.148042 
  • Nutrient enrichment and artificial light at night synergistically confer a competitive advantage to alien aquatic species over natives – Zhang et al. (2025) https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.102.142791 

Ecological interactions and invasion impacts 

Interactions between invading species, native species, and other non-native species, are critical in determining the population dynamics and ecological impacts. This group of papers includes studies dedicated to freshwater fish, crustaceans, amphibians, higher plants and algae, and estuarine bivalves: 

Diagram of the experiment featured in Shen et al.
Experimental design from Shen et al. (2025).

Detection and monitoring tools 

Monitoring of non-native species has evolved beyond taxonomic surveys to incorporate the use of molecular tools, informatics and citizen science for detecting and monitoring non-native species:

Management and policy 

Policy effectiveness and practical management are central concerns in invasion science:

People watching a presentation and a group photo taken outdoors.
LIFE INVASAQUA networking events from López-Cañizares et al. (2025).

Global and regional syntheses

Global and regional syntheses play a critical role in guiding invasion policy and future research. Three regional and one global syntheses are provided in this issue:

The special issue offers a timely and multifaceted view of aquatic invasions spanning a diversity of aquatic taxa including fishes, crustaceans, amphibians, molluscs, macrophytes, bryozoans and even parasite-host systems.

From functional trait ecology and trophic interactions to molecular diagnostics and policy assessments, the contributions demonstrate how aquatic invasion science is evolving towards greater interdisciplinarity and translational relevance. 

Read the special issue here: https://neobiota.pensoft.net/issue/4930/

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