State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA.
Conserv Biol. 2011 Jun;25(3):428-37. doi: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01646.x. Epub 2011 Feb 22.
Non-native species can cause the loss of biological diversity (i.e., genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity) and threaten the well-being of humans when they become invasive. In some cases, however, they can also provide conservation benefits. We examined the ways in which non-native species currently contribute to conservation objectives. These include, for example, providing habitat or food resources to rare species, serving as functional substitutes for extinct taxa, and providing desirable ecosystem functions. We speculate that non-native species might contribute to achieving conservation goals in the future because they may be more likely than native species to persist and provide ecosystem services in areas where climate and land use are changing rapidly and because they may evolve into new and endemic taxa. The management of non-native species and their potential integration into conservation plans depends on how conservation goals are set in the future. A fraction of non-native species will continue to cause biological and economic damage, and substantial uncertainty surrounds the potential future effects of all non-native species. Nevertheless, we predict the proportion of non-native species that are viewed as benign or even desirable will slowly increase over time as their potential contributions to society and to achieving conservation objectives become well recognized and realized.
非本地物种在入侵时会导致生物多样性（即遗传多样性、物种多样性和生态系统多样性）丧失，并威胁人类的福祉。然而，在某些情况下，它们也可以提供保护益处。我们研究了非本地物种目前如何为保护目标做出贡献。这些包括为稀有物种提供栖息地或食物资源，作为已灭绝分类群的功能替代品，以及提供理想的生态系统功能。我们推测，非本地物种将来可能有助于实现保护目标，因为它们在气候和土地利用迅速变化的地区比本地物种更有可能持续存在并提供生态系统服务，并且它们可能进化为新的和特有分类群。非本地物种的管理及其潜在的纳入保护计划取决于未来如何设定保护目标。一部分非本地物种将继续造成生物和经济破坏，并且所有非本地物种的潜在未来影响都存在很大的不确定性。尽管如此，我们预测随着它们对社会和实现保护目标的潜在贡献得到更好的认识和实现，被视为良性甚至理想的非本地物种的比例将随着时间的推移缓慢增加。
