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  • Review Article
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Alien plants and novel ecosystems in the Greater Tropics

Nature Reviews Biodiversity volume 1, pages 515–531 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

The tropics and subtropics, collectively the Greater Tropics, are home to most of Earth’s biodiversity and humanity, and are undergoing unprecedented transformations driven by global change. In this Review, we assess how alien plants, an underappreciated component of these transformations, interact with other global changes, including land-use shifts, climate change and biotic attrition, to reshape socioecological systems in the Greater Tropics. Whereas many alien plants initially act as passengers of global change, others can become powerful drivers, reconfiguring ecological communities and catalysing novel ecosystem dynamics. Arising changes risk creating homogenized plant communities further disrupted by intense human pressure and social vulnerability. Drawing on insights from community ecology, biogeography and evolutionary theory, we examine the implications of these transformations and the potential for alien plants to both exacerbate and buffer the impact of global change. Given the rapid ecological shifts underway, we highlight the critical need for forwards-looking management that integrates ecological complexity with social realities. We advocate for adaptive, evidence-based frameworks — including nature-based solutions and the resist–accept–direct typology — that support both biodiversity and human well-being. A proactive, inclusive approach to managing alien plants is essential to safeguard socioecological resilience in the Greater Tropics.

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Fig. 1: The Greater Tropics and presence of alien plants.
Fig. 2: Trends in alien plants presence.
Fig. 3: Ecosystem change across the Greater Tropics.
Fig. 4: Linkage in between invasion processes, management regimes and the RAD typology.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for economic support from the Danish National Research Foundation via the Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO; grant no. DNRF173 to J.-C.S.). We thank Earthkeeper for economic support via the Global South Biodiversity Leadership Project (GLOBALI).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO), Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Ninad Avinash Mungi & Jens-Christian Svenning

  2. São Paulo State University (UNESP), São Paulo, Brazil

    Mauro Galetti

  3. National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India

    Jayashree Ratnam

  4. Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Desalegn Chala

  5. School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Arizona State University, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    María José Sanín

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All authors contributed to the conceptualization and discussion of the content. N.A.M. and J.-C.S. led the writing, and all authors contributed substantially to the drafts of the manuscript. All authors reviewed and edited the manuscript before submission.

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Glossary

Alien species

Species that are introduced to a new locality by human agency and have established self-sustaining populations there. Introduced species with negative impacts are termed invasive alien species.

Biological invasions

The process involving the intentional or unintentional transport or movement of a species outside its natural range by human activities and its introduction to new regions, where it might become established and spread.

Cerrado

A biodiverse and tropical savanna biome in central Brazil with grassy dominance, shaped by climatic seasonality, fire regimes and low-fertility soils.

Ecosystem restoration

The process of assisting the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded or destroyed, as well as conserving the ecosystems that are still intact.

Invasive alien species

A subset of introduced species that have negative impacts.

Mixed-species communities

A community of species consisting of a mix of populations of both native and introduced species, and where the number of introduced species present can range from one to several.

Native invaders

Species that have spread within their historical range, attaining extreme abundances and exerting severe per capita effects as a result of direct or indirect human agency.

Native species

A species within its natural range, including shifting its range, without human involvement.

Nature-dependent people

People who directly depend on locally available natural resources for at least three of the four basic needs: housing materials, water, fuel for cooking and occupation.

Neonatives

Taxa that have expanded and established populations beyond their known native range owing to human-induced environmental changes, but without direct movement by human agency.

Novel ecosystems

Self-reinforcing systems that have biotic or abiotic structures different from historical baselines, resulting from direct or indirect human agency.

Ruderal

A plant strategy category characterized by rapid growth, early reproduction and high seed output, enabling them to thrive in highly disturbed environments with low competition and high nutrient availability.

Trophic rewilding

An ecological restoration strategy that uses species introductions to restore top-down trophic interactions and associated trophic cascades to promote self-regulating biodiverse ecosystems.

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Mungi, N.A., Galetti, M., Ratnam, J. et al. Alien plants and novel ecosystems in the Greater Tropics. Nat. Rev. Biodivers. 1, 515–531 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44358-025-00068-3

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