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Anthropocene: action makes sense

Nature volume 502, page 624 (2013)Cite this article

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Chris Thomas argues that natural hybridization of invasive and native species could have unforeseen ecological benefits (Nature 502, 7; 2013). However, it is dangerous to underestimate non-native species' potential for ecological and economic damage, which can manifest after decades of remaining innocuous, or in subtle but enormously harmful ways (D. Simberloff et al. Trends Ecol. Evol. 28, 58–66; 2013).

Thomas cites Spartina anglica as a potential contributor to future biodiversity. But this plant is so widespread and destructive that it is on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's list of '100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species'.

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  1. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA

    Daniel Simberloff

  2. Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, and IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group, Rome, Italy

    Piero Genovesi

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  1. Daniel Simberloff
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  2. Piero Genovesi
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Correspondence to Daniel Simberloff.

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Simberloff, D., Genovesi, P. Anthropocene: action makes sense. Nature 502, 624 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/502624b

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