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ANIS-E: An atlas of marine non‐indigenous species in Europe
Violet, C.; Chevalier, M.; Curd, A.; Viard, F. (2026). ANIS-E: An atlas of marine non‐indigenous species in Europe. Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr. 35(4): e70242. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/geb.70242
In: Global Ecology and Biogeography. Blackwell Science: Oxford. ISSN 1466-822X; e-ISSN 1466-8238, more
Peer reviewed article  

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Authors  Top 
  • Violet, C.
  • Chevalier, M.
  • Curd, A.
  • Viard, F.

Abstract

    Motivation

    Non-Indigenous Species (NIS) pose a major threat to global biodiversity and incur substantial environmental, economic and health costs. Yet, in marine ecosystems, invasion biogeography remains constrained by the limited availability of spatially explicit and consistently documented native range information, which is essential for identifying source regions and interpreting patterns of spread and establishment. In particular, there is no open, standardised resource that systematically links national and regional introduction reports with explicitly sourced native ranges across marine taxa. We developed Atlas of marine Non-Indigenous Species in Europe (ANIS-E), a publicly available database compiling introduction reports in European seas, with harmonised, spatially explicit native range assignments. We reason that this resource is a key tool for advancing the understanding of marine invasions and informing conservation efforts and policy decisions in Europe.

    Main Types of Variables Included

    ANIS-E includes 6039 introduction reports, encompassing 2016 marine taxa across 18 European marine ecoregions. It provides information on taxonomic rank, identifiers from other databases (e.g., WoRMS, BOLD), NIS or cryptogenic status, and reported introduction pathways. Native range information is available for 1530 taxa.

    Spatial Location and Grain

    Every known introduction report, based on published national NIS inventories, is recorded for the countries bordering European seas, while the native ranges of the introduced species extend across the globe. All spatial data are collated into marine ecoregions using the Marine Ecoregions of the World (MEOW) classification.

    Time Period and Grain

    Introduction reports are recorded from 1700 to 2024.

    Major Taxa and Level of Measurement

    Marine taxa are identified to the species level or below in rank, spanning six kingdoms plus viruses and encompassing 34 phyla.

    Software Format

    The database is available in ‘.csv’ format. A user-friendly interface providing access to the same data, powered by an R Shiny app included in an R package, is also available.

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