Naturalisation (biology)

This article is about the spread of non-native organisms in the wild. For the process of adopting citizenship of a foreign country, see Naturalization.

Naturalisation (or naturalization) is the ecological phenomenon through which a species, taxon, or population of exotic (as opposed to native) origin integrates into a given ecosystem, becoming capable of reproducing and growing in it, and proceeds to disseminate spontaneously.[1] In some instances, the presence of a species in a given ecosystem is so ancient that it cannot be presupposed whether it is native or introduced.[2]

Generally, any introduced species may (in the wild) either go extinct or naturalise in its new environment.[3]

Some populations do not sustain themselves reproductively, but exist because of continued influx from elsewhere. Such a non-sustaining population, or the individuals within it, are said to be adventive.[4] Cultivated plants, sometimes called nativars, are a major source of adventive populations.

  1. ^ "Definitions". Weeds Gone Wild. Archived from the original on 4 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  2. ^ Da Lage, Antoine; Métailié, Georges (2015). Dictionnaire de biogéographie végétale. French National Centre for Scientific Research. p. 47. ISBN 9782271085870.
  3. ^ Dong, Bi-Cheng; Yang, Qiang; Kinlock, Nicole L.; Pouteau, Robin; Pyšek, Petr; Weigelt, Patrick; Yu, Fei-Hai; Van Kleunen, Mark (2024). "Naturalization of introduced plants is driven by life-form-dependent cultivation biases". Diversity and Distributions. 30 (1): 55–70. Bibcode:2024DivDi..30...55D. doi:10.1111/ddi.13788.
  4. ^ Wagner, Warren L.; Herbst, Derral R.; Sohmer, Sy H. (1999). Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i (Revised ed.). Hololulu: Bishop Museum Press.