Citizen science is becoming very useful in surveying and monitoring biodiversity. Within the European Union LIFE medCLIFFS project, a network of volunteers has been established for the detection and long-term monitoring of invasive plant species that threaten the endemic flora of Mediterranean cliffs in northeastern Spain. Through iNaturalist, volunteers record various data along a series of 1-km transects. Based on the ca. 700 observations collected by volunteers in 2023 (the first year of the project), a simple and visually attractive methodology for assessing the recorded populations has been developed. This method classifies populations into one of three population dynamics categories: (1) propagative behavior (i.e., populations with seedlings or young plants but lacking senescent or dead individuals); (2) senescent behavior (i.e., showing senescent/dead plants but lacking seedlings/juveniles); and (3) a mixed behavior (i.e., containing both). This methodology, whose outputs are easily interpretable as heat maps, allows the collection of large datasets on invasive plants by citizen scientists, with two main purposes: (1) knowing which species are most concerning based on simple, straightforward observations of their population dynamics; and (2) identifying which regions of the study area are more problematic and where management efforts should therefore be directed.

The Costa Brava, a Mediterranean coastal strip spanning ca. 250 km (in NE Spain), is a hotspot of plant invasions. To address this issue, the LIFE medCLIFFS project was launched to improve the management of invasive species along sea cliffs in the region. The initial phase of the project involved designing more than 100 transects distributed across the coastline, each 1 km in length, which were to be monitored by volunteers. During the fieldwork for transect design, we identified a total of 126 alien species. This is a substantial number, considering that the observations were confined to the transect areas. Notably, among the 126 observed taxa, 24 represented floristic novelties: 7 were new to the Costa Brava, 7 to the province of Girona, 4 to Catalonia, 1 to Spain, 1 to the Iberian Peninsula, and 4 to Europe. Additionally, we provide information on other alien taxa that, although not novel for the study area, could be significant for control and management efforts. These observations provide a foundation for compiling a comprehensive catalog of the alien flora of the Costa Brava.

While the influential role of scientific associations in shaping research fields is well recognized, their impact within the domain of invasion science remains underexplored. This review combines qualitative narrative with quantitative metrics to trace the development of Neobiota , the first European non-profit and non-governmental scientific association dedicated to the study of biological invasions. Since its foundation in 1999, the Neobiota network has aimed to foster scientific exchange and collaboration, advance and integrate research across all dimensions of invasion science, and disseminate findings to support evidence-based policies. Evolving rapidly from a German working group into Europe’s leading network for invasion science, Neobiota has united researchers and practitioners across disciplines, taxa, and national boundaries. In contrast to many other associations, Neobiota operates with a low-threshold, non-bureaucratic governance model, promoting inclusivity and cross-border engagement. We document how its biennial conferences—hosted in twelve European countries between 2000 and 2024—have supported thematic diversity (ranging from molecular biology to socio-economy), increasing international participation (from nine to 47 countries globally), and active policy outreach. Thematically, the focus of research presented at conferences has shifted over time from ecological patterns and species inventories to environmental impacts, predictive modelling, management strategies, and socio-political dimensions of invasions. Trends in equity reveal progress towards gender parity among keynote speakers and session chairs. Neobiota has also supported the dissemination of knowledge through two publication platforms: the Neobiota series (2000–2008), and the open-access, peer-reviewed journal NeoBiota launched in 2011. This journal currently operates under an innovative editorial model with 75 subject editors and a team of five Co-Editors-in-Chief. We conclude that over the past 25 years, Neobiota has been instrumental in building a cohesive and inclusive scientific community globally, advancing and disseminating interdisciplinary research on biological invasions, and informing policy, particularly in support of legal frameworks to prevent and mitigate the negative impacts of non-native species.

Over the last decades, invasion science has attempted to identify general patterns to explain which alien plant species become invasive, where, and why. However, many of these generalisations have proven inconsistent across spatial and taxonomic scales, leading to the widespread perception that invasions are largely context-dependent and there are no useful generalizations. We argue that trying to generalise across all invasions is unlikely to be productive, but that there are recurrent invasion patterns, conceptualised as invasion syndromes, i.e. “a combination of pathways, alien species traits, and characteristics of the ecosystem which collectively result in predictable dynamics and impacts, and that can be managed effectively using specific policy and management actions”. This idea is being tested in the Biodiversa+ project InvaSyn and extended through the Spanish national project PRISMA focusing on mountain ecosystems worldwide. Together, these initiatives aim to identify generalisable and useful patterns of plant invasions. Our approach is structured around three main steps. First, we compile and generate datasets capturing both ecological and human dimensions of invasions. Second, using integrative analyses, we classify invasion events into groups sharing similar ecological and socioeconomic characteristics, species attributes, invasion dynamics, and impacts. This syndrome-based approach allows us to reconcile context dependency with generality by identifying recurrent types of invasions rather than seeking universal patterns across all cases. Third, we identify actionable recommendations by co-developing response options tailored to each invasion syndrome. The invasion syndromes approach allows us to improve prediction, prioritisation and management of alien plant invasions, while fostering collaboration between researchers, practitioners and policymakers. Ultimately, this research contributes to a more holistic and actionable understanding of biological invasions, providing a basis for more efficient and context-aware management strategies.

The increasing concern of biological invasions and their multiple impacts have made the translation of scientific knowledge into practical action an urgent global priority. This need is explicitly recognized in Target 6 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework for 2030. Although a growing body of invasion science literature addresses a wide range of management methods for numerous invasive species, access to this knowledge remains limited for practitioners and decision-makers. This is largely because available information is often highly specialized, fragmented, taxonomically and geographically biased, and primarily targeted toward academic audiences. To overcome this barrier, it is essential to foster collaboration among researchers with diverse backgrounds to develop synthesis studies capable of analyzing large and complex datasets with the aim of identifying and prioritizing management strategies, and translating them into practical, user-friendly tools. We developed a reproducible workflow to: conduct a collaborative, comprehensive review of the scientific literature on naturalized and invasive plant management in mountain ecosystems, extract and analyze outcomes, systematically classifying management strategies according to their effectiveness, and validate the results with experts, while making all the information accessible through a global online database tailored for stakeholders and written in clear, non-technical language. conduct a collaborative, comprehensive review of the scientific literature on naturalized and invasive plant management in mountain ecosystems, extract and analyze outcomes, systematically classifying management strategies according to their effectiveness, and validate the results with experts, while making all the information accessible through a global online database tailored for stakeholders and written in clear, non-technical language. The list of naturalized plants in mountain areas (n = 564) was obtained from the MIREN (Mountain Invasion Research Network) global database. The species with the highest number of articles related to management strategies were Bromus tectorum , Lantana camara , Ailanthus altissima , Robinia pseudoacacia , Solidago canadensis , Cytisus scoparius and Impatiens glandulifera . Of the total articles retrieved (n = 5425), 15% met our inclusion criteria and were selected for data extraction. So far, 438 articles were analyzed, evaluating a total of 930 treatments across 62 countries, with most studies conducted in the United States, followed by South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Overall, 82% of treatments corresponded to non-integrated approaches, while only 18% addressed integrated management strategies. Among the non-integrated treatments, chemical methods were the most common (42.4%), followed by biological (38%), mechanical (16.6%), and restoration-based approaches (3%). Chemical and biological treatments showed the highest effectiveness; however, chemical methods were also associated with higher levels of unintended effects. This ongoing project will result in a structured evidence database and a decision-support resource that facilitates the identification of effective management actions across contexts. It represents an important first step toward scaling up this approach to naturalized alien plants globally. Importantly, the researchers involved in this initiative come from different countries and diverse research backgrounds, strengthening evidence interpretation and helping to identify both the feasibility of management actions and gaps in management experiences across contexts. Likewise, the ultimate data validation will be carried out with experts from the field and experienced stakeholders, during interdisciplinary workshops. Together, these efforts aim to bridge the gap between science and practice and to enhance the effectiveness of plant invasion management at a global scale.

While the influential role of scientific associations in shaping research fields is well recognized, their impact within the domain of invasion science remains underexplored. This review combines qualitative narrative with quantitative metrics to trace the development of Neobiota, the first European non-profit and non-governmental scientific association dedicated to the study of biological invasions. Since its foundation in 1999, the Neobiota network has aimed to foster scientific exchange and collaboration, advance and integrate research across all dimensions of invasion science, and disseminate findings to support evidence-based policies. Evolving rapidly from a German working group into Europe’s leading network for invasion science, Neobiota has united researchers and practitioners across disciplines, taxa, and national boundaries. In contrast to many other associations, Neobiota operates with a low-threshold, non-bureaucratic governance model, promoting inclusivity and cross-border engagement. We document how its biennial conferences—hosted in 12 European countries between 2000 and 2024—have supported thematic diversity (ranging from molecular biology to socio-economy), increasing international participation (9–47 countries globally), and active policy outreach. Thematically, the focus of research presented at conferences has shifted over time from ecological patterns and species inventories to environmental impacts, predictive modeling, management strategies, and socio-political dimensions of invasions. Trends in equity reveal progress toward gender parity among keynote speakers and session chairs. Neobiota has also supported the dissemination of knowledge through two publication platforms: the Neobiota series (2000–2008) and the open-access, peer-reviewed journal NeoBiota launched in 2011. This journal currently operates under an Editorial Board with 75 subject editors and a team of five Co-Editors-in-Chief. We conclude that over the past 25 years, Neobiota has been instrumental in building a cohesive and inclusive scientific community globally, advancing and disseminating interdisciplinary research on biological invasions, and informing policy, particularly in support of legal frameworks to prevent and mitigate the negative impacts of non-native species.