Cultural integration of invasive species
: Jarić, Ivan; Fernández-Llamazares, Álvaro; Molnár, Zsolt; Arbieu, Ugo; Canavan, Susan; Correia, Ricardo A.; Essl, Franz; Kamelamela, Katie L.; Ladle, Richard J.; Maurice, Anne-Claire; Meinard, Yves; Novoa, Ana; Nuñez, Martin A.; Pyšek, Petr; Roll, Uri; Sbragaglia, Valerio; Shackleton, Ross T.; Shani, Liron; Sherren, Kate; Teff-Seker, Yael; Vaz, Ana Sofia; Wehi, Priscilla M.; Jeschke, Jonathan M.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
: 2025
: NPJ Biodiversity
: npj Biodiversity
: 25
: 4
: 2731-4243
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44185-025-00097-3
: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44185-025-00097-3
: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/499359069
Many invasive non-native species gradually become embedded within local cultures. Such species can increasingly be perceived by society as familiar or even native elements of the social-ecological system and become an integral part of local cultures. Here, we explore this phenomenon and refer to it as the cultural integration of invasive species. Although culturally integrated species can positively contribute to people’s lives and well-being, and provide new or lost ecosystem services, their acceptance can also hinder the ability of conservation managers to successfully manage invasive species by reducing public support for their management. Cultural integration can infringe upon social values and cultural identities, and contribute to the erosion and homogenization of biocultural diversity. It can also modify or displace the cultural uses and values of native species, and may disrupt social-ecological legacies and dynamics. We present the main mechanisms of cultural integration, its drivers and major implications, and provide key recommendations for the management and conservation of biological and cultural diversity.
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This work was supported by grant no. 23-07278S from Czech Science Foundation and long-term research development project RVO 67985939 from the Czech Academy of Sciences to I.J., A.N., and P.P. F.E. appreciates funding from the Austrian Science Foundation FWF (Global Plant Invasions, grant no. I 5825-B). R.A.C. acknowledges funding from the Research Council of Finland (grant #348352) and the KONE Foundation (grant #202101976). A.N. and V.S. acknowledge funding from the MCIN/AEI/10.13039/ 501100011033 and the FSE+ (grant no. RYC2022-037905-I and RYC2021-033065-I, respectively). ZM was supported by the National Laboratory for Health Security (NKFIH, RRF-2.3.1-21-2022-00006). ASV acknowledges support from FCT—Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology through the program Stimulus for Scientific Employment— Individual Support 2020.01175.CEECIND/CP1601/CT0009. J.M.J. acknowledges support by the European Union’s Horizon Europe HORIZON-CL6-2024-BIODIV-01 project GuardIAS, grant agreement no. 101181413. The funders played no role in study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of data, or the writing of this manuscript.
