Chapter 5
Aliens on the Move: Transportation
Networks and Non-native Species
Fernando Ascensão and César Capinha
Abstract Biological invasions are a major component of global environmental
change, threatening biodiversity and human well-being. These invasions have their
origin in the human-mediated transportation of species beyond natural distribution
ranges, a process that has increased by orders of magnitude in recent decades as a
result of accelerating rates of international trade, travel, and transport. In this
chapter, we address the role that overland transportation corridors, particularly
railways, have in the transport of non-native species. We focus specifically on the
role of rail vehicles in dispersing stowaway species, i.e. species that are moved
inadvertently and that are not specific to the commodities being transported; we also
focus on the natural dispersal and establishment of non-native species along railway
edges. We place these processes in the context of biological invasions as a global
phenomenon and provide examples from the literature. We also list general management recommendations for biological invasions highlighting the particularities
associated with their management in railway transport systems. Following previous
studies, we briefly outline four possible management approaches: (1) “Do nothing;”
(2) “Manage propagule supply;” (3) “Manage railway environments;” and (4) “Act
over the invasive populations directly”. These approaches are not mutually exclusive, and they range from an expectation that natural processes (e.g. ecological
succession) will drive the invaders out of the ecosystems, to the application of
Fernando Ascensão and César Capinha have contributed equally to this chapter.
F. Ascensão
CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos,
Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
F. Ascensão
CEABN/InBIO, Centro de Ecologia Aplicada “Professor Baeta Neves”,
Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa,
Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
C. Capinha (&)
Global Health and Tropical Medicine Centre (GHTM), Instituto de Higiene e Medicina
Tropical (IHMT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
e-mail: ccapinha@cibo.up.pt
© The Author(s) 2017
L. Borda-de-Água et al. (eds.), Railway Ecology,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57496-7_5
65
Aliens on the Move: Transportation
Networks and Non-native Species
Fernando Ascensão and César Capinha
Abstract Biological invasions are a major component of global environmental
change, threatening biodiversity and human well-being. These invasions have their
origin in the human-mediated transportation of species beyond natural distribution
ranges, a process that has increased by orders of magnitude in recent decades as a
result of accelerating rates of international trade, travel, and transport. In this
chapter, we address the role that overland transportation corridors, particularly
railways, have in the transport of non-native species. We focus specifically on the
role of rail vehicles in dispersing stowaway species, i.e. species that are moved
inadvertently and that are not specific to the commodities being transported; we also
focus on the natural dispersal and establishment of non-native species along railway
edges. We place these processes in the context of biological invasions as a global
phenomenon and provide examples from the literature. We also list general management recommendations for biological invasions highlighting the particularities
associated with their management in railway transport systems. Following previous
studies, we briefly outline four possible management approaches: (1) “Do nothing;”
(2) “Manage propagule supply;” (3) “Manage railway environments;” and (4) “Act
over the invasive populations directly”. These approaches are not mutually exclusive, and they range from an expectation that natural processes (e.g. ecological
succession) will drive the invaders out of the ecosystems, to the application of
Fernando Ascensão and César Capinha have contributed equally to this chapter.
F. Ascensão
CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos,
Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
F. Ascensão
CEABN/InBIO, Centro de Ecologia Aplicada “Professor Baeta Neves”,
Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa,
Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
C. Capinha (&)
Global Health and Tropical Medicine Centre (GHTM), Instituto de Higiene e Medicina
Tropical (IHMT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
e-mail: ccapinha@cibo.up.pt
© The Author(s) 2017
L. Borda-de-Água et al. (eds.), Railway Ecology,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57496-7_5
65