Science Enabled by Specimen Data

Liu, X., T. M. Blackburn, T. Song, X. Li, C. Huang, and Y. Li. 2019. Risks of Biological Invasion on the Belt and Road. Current Biology 29: 499-505.e4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.12.036

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an unprecedented global development program that involves nearly half of the world’s countries [1]. It not only will have economic and political influences, but also may generate multiple environmental challenges and is a focus of considerable academic and p…

Mothes, C. C., J. T. Stroud, S. L. Clements, and C. A. Searcy. 2019. Evaluating ecological niche model accuracy in predicting biotic invasions using South Florida’s exotic lizard community. Journal of Biogeography 46: 432–441. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13511

Aim: Predicting environmentally suitable areas for non‐native species is an important step in managing biotic invasions, and ecological niche models are commonly used to accomplish this task. Depending on these models to enact appropriate management plans assumes their accuracy, but most niche model…

Forti, L. R., C. G. Becker, L. Tacioli, V. R. Pereira, A. C. F. A. Santos, I. Oliveira, C. F. B. Haddad, and L. F. Toledo. 2017. Perspectives on invasive amphibians in Brazil S. Lötters [ed.],. PLOS ONE 12: e0184703. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184703

Introduced species have the potential to become invasive and jeopardize entire ecosystems. The success of species establishing viable populations outside their original extent depends primarily on favorable climatic conditions in the invasive ranges. Species distribution modeling (SDM) can thus be u…