Ross N Cuthbert

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Verified

Ross verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• BSc (Hons) MSc PhD
• Lecturer at Queen's University Belfast

Plastic products have resulted in enormous pollution in many ecosystem types and regions worldwide. The problem is particularly prominent within aquatic environments, where multiple anthropogenic sources (i.e., agriculture, urbanisation, industries, illegal dumping) are common, exacerbated by interconnectedness between aquatic and terrestrial envir...

In this article, the order in which the authors appeared in the author list was incorrectly given as Phillip J. Haubrock, Anna K. Kulessa, Ross N. Cuthbert, Ismael Soto, Paride Balzani, Mathieu Toutain and Antonín Kouba, where it should have been Anna K. Kulessa, Ross N. Cuthbert, Ismael Soto, Paride Balzani, Mathieu Toutain, Antonín Kouba and Phil...

Biological invasions have been estimated to damage the global economy at a scale comparable to natural disasters. However, these estimates rely on data from a small proportion of invasive species and countries. Effectively managing these invasions requires better cost estimates for neglected species and regions. Using random forest, we estimated th...

Multiple stressors, such as pollution, climate change, invasive species and fragmentation, threaten global ecosystems, requiring holistic management actions. Freshwater ecosystems are disproportionately biodiverse and particularly impacted by fragmentation and biological invasions. Artificial barriers, such as dams and weirs, are long-standing feat...

Biological invasions and human migrations have increased globally due to socio-economic drivers and environmental factors that have enhanced cultural, economic, and geographic connectivity. Both processes involve the movement, establishment, and spread of species, yet unfold within fundamentally different philosophical, social and biological contex...

Anthropogenic activities have drastically changed environmental conditions worldwide, negatively impacting biodiversity and ecosystem services. At the same time, the majority of the human population lives in urban areas that are greatly altered from natural habitats. Nevertheless, many species thrive in these urban environments. To improve our know...

Globalisation has accelerated rates of biological invasions worldwide, leading to widespread environmental perturbations that often translate into rapidly expanding socio-economic costs. Although such monetary costs can be estimated from the observed effects of invasions, the pathways that lead invasive species to become economically impactful rema...

Predator–prey interactions underpin ecological dynamics from population to ecosystem scales, affecting population growth and influencing community stability. One of the classic methods to study these relationships is the functional response (FR) approach, measuring resource use across resource densities. Global warming is known to strongly mediate...

Numerous phytosanitary threats challenge global agriculture, ecosystems, and food security. These threats are exacerbated by non-native species and diseases that are projected to intensify in the future due to global warming and anthropogenic habitat alterations. Assessments of the ecological impacts of overlooked phytosanitary threats are urgently...

Non-native species can be major drivers of ecosystem alteration, especially through changes in trophic interactions. Successful non-native species have been predicted to have greater resource use efficiency relative to trophically analogous native species (the Resource Consumption Hypothesis), but rigorous evidence remains equivocal. Here, we teste...

Riverine physical and chemical characteristics are influencing ecosystem integrity while shaping and impacting species richness and diversity. Changes in these factors could potentially influence community structuring through competition, predation and localised species extinctions. In this study, eight sampling sites over multiple seasons were ass...

The global proliferation of nonindigenous species remains a critical stressor driving both biodiversity loss and socioeconomic costs. These impacts frequently depend on environmental contexts, but few studies have investigated how seasonal variations coupled with climate changes, like warming, could modulate nonindigenous species ecological impacts...

Protected areas underpin global biodiversity conservation and sustainability goals, but remain at risk from biological invasion impacts. Anticipated expansions of protected lands and waters towards 2030 under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) will concurrently increase the burden of biological invasions within and from these...

Biological invasions pose a major threat to biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and human well-being. Non-native species can have severe ecological impacts that are transformative, affecting ecosystems across both short-term and long-term timescales. However, few studies have determined the temporal dynamics of impact between these scales, impedin...

Aquatic ecosystem conservation is imperative to reaching global biodiversity and sustainability targets. However, the ecological status of waters has been continuously eroded through mismanagement in the face of existing and emerging anthropogenic stressors, such as pollutants. There has been an emerging trend towards the use of dyes to manage alga...

In the current anthropogenic era characterized by human-induced environmental changes, long-term biomonitoring is crucial for understanding ecological patterns and detecting shifts in biodiversity. However, spatiotemporal inconsistencies in biomonitoring efforts hinder transboundary progress in understanding and mitigating global environmental chan...

Biological invasions pose significant threats to biodiversity, while impacting ecosystem services, human health, and cultural heritage. Despite these far-ranging effects, their impacts are generally underappreciated by both the public and policymakers, resulting in insufficient management and inadequate conservation outcomes. Recognizing the gap in...

Biological invasions are a major stressor on ecosystems worldwide, but tools to predict their predatory impact remain limited. Here, we quantified invader impacts using two complementary approaches: functional responses (to reveal per capita and multiple predator interaction strengths) and ecomorphology (to reveal trophic profiles and competitive o...

Trophic interactions are a critical component of ecosystem stability, governing prey-predator relationships. Crayfish are involved in numerous interactions within freshwater communities and, when non-native, they can negatively impact the structure and dynamics of ecosystems. During biotic interactions or unsuccessful molts, they are able to autoto...

Globalisation has steadily accelerated rates of biological invasions worldwide, leading to widespread environmental perturbations that often translate into rapidly expanding socio-economic costs. Although such monetary costs can be estimated based on the observed effects of invasions, the pathways that lead invasive species to become economically i...

Increasing rates of biological invasions pose major ecological and economic threats globally. The pet trade is one major invasion pathway, and environmental change could mediate the successful establishment and impact of these released or escaped non-native species (NNS). Salinity regime shifts are a pervasive but often overlooked environmental cha...

Pollution of the natural environment by microplastics has become a global issue in ecosystems as it poses a potential long-term threat to biota. Microplastics can accrue in high abundances in sediments of aquatic ecosystems while also contaminating pelagic filter feeders, which could transfer pollutants up trophic webs. We assess the abundance and...

Rising global food demands have led to unprecedented aquaculture growth. Aquaculture has simultaneously become a major global pathway for biological invasions. Non-native farmed species, while highly productive, can undermine sustainability agendas because of their environmental and socio-economic damages when they escape. We analyse global non-nat...

Protected areas underpin global biodiversity conservation and sustainability agendas. Biological invasions increasingly threaten the ecological functioning and long-term conservation value of protected areas, while a lack of information on impact impedes management decisions. We collated data from effects of biological invasions in protected areas...

Plastic pollution is regarded as a global concern. This environmental issue is caused by human industrial and domestic activities, as well as improper plastic waste management. Pro-environmental behaviour has emerged as one of the strategies that can be used to solve the growing environmental issues in line with achieving sustainable development go...

Estimates of the cost of damage caused by invasive alien speices and the money spent addressing biological invasions are needed to guide policy and management. Here, we quantify the known monetary costs of biological invasions to South Africa, using data from the InvaCost database, literature searches, and stakeholders. The Department of Forestry,...

The available information regarding mistletoes inadequately explains the dynamic facets of infestation in rural-urban gradients. This study was carried out to compare the abundance of mistletoe species on hosts between urban (Gaborone and Gakuto) and rural (Lentsweletau and Oodi) areas of Botswana. Four plots each with a surface area of 625 m 2 wer...

Freshwater ecosystems provide essential services for human well-being, with their conservation success reliant on the precise quantification of biodiversity. Diplostraca (= Cladocera) and Copepoda are diverse groups of microcrustaceans in aquatic ecosystems, important for a multitude of these services. We examined biodiversity trends of these group...

Biological invasions are increasingly recognised as a major global change that erodes ecosystems, societal well-being, and economies. However, comprehensive analyses of their economic ramifications are missing for most national economies, despite rapidly escalating costs globally. Türkiye is highly vulnerable to biological invasions owing to its ex...

The demand for macadamia nut production worldwide has led to increased use of pesticides and chemicals for pest and disease control. Reservoirs in these macadamia farming sectors are at . The current study investigated macroinvertebrate colonisation and succession associated with two macadamia orchards and two communal area reservoirs. The potentia...

Biological invasions pose a rapidly expanding threat to the persistence, functioning, and service provisioning of ecosystems globally, and to socio-economic interests. The stages of successful invasions progress driven by the same mechanism that underlies adaptive changes across species in general—via natural selection on intraspecific variation in...

Climate change is associated with increased mean temperatures and amplitudes manifesting both acutely and chronically, triggering organism stress responses that confer fitness costs and/or benefits. The larger grain borer (LGB), Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) is an invasive postharvest agricultural pest. While host shift i...

Microplastics are widespread pollutants, but few studies have linked field prevalence in organisms to laboratory uptakes. Aquatic filter feeders may be particularly susceptible to microplastic uptake, with the potential for trophic transfer to higher levels, including humans. Here, we surveyed microplastics from a model freshwater shrimp, common ca...

Biological invasions have profound impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and services, resulting in substantial economic and health costs estimated in the trillions of dollars. Preventing and managing biological invasions are vital for sustainable development, aligning with the goals of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference. Howeve...

Standardized terminology in science is important for clarity of interpretation and communication. In invasion science – a dynamic and rapidly evolving discipline – the proliferation of technical terminology has lacked a standardized framework for its development. The result is a convoluted and inconsistent usage of terminology, with various discrep...

The rapid acceleration of human-mediated translocation of species has led to the introduction of thousands of species outside their native range with severe consequences for global biodiversity. Freshwater crayfish are a particularly successful group of invasive species as exemplified by the increasingly widespread marbled crayfish Procambarus virg...

Plastic pollution is a ubiquitous problem that poses a threat to society and the environment. The issue is especially pervasive in the aquatic environment, where large amounts of plastic debris accumulate from numerous anthropogenic pathways. Relatively little is known about the extent of macroplastics in African subtropical Austral rivers, where m...

Predatory non-indigenous species (NIS) have profound impacts on global ecosystems, potentially leading to native prey extinction and reshaping community dynamics. Among mechanisms potentially mediating predator impacts and prey invasion success are predator preferences between native vs. non-indigenous prey, a topic still underexplored. Using funct...

The zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha is one of the most successful, notorious, and detrimental aquatic invasive non-native species worldwide, having invaded Europe and North America while causing substantial ecological and socioeconomic impacts. Here, we investigated the spatiotemporal trends in this species' invasion success using 178 macroinvert...

A dominant syndrome of the Anthropocene is the rapid worldwide spread of invasive species with devastating environmental and socio-economic impacts. However, the dynamics underlying the impacts of biological invasions remain contested. A hypothesis posits that the richness of impactful invasive species increases proportionally with the richness of...

Invasive non-native species are a growing burden to economies worldwide. While domesticated animals (i.e., livestock, beasts of burden or pets) have enabled our ways of life and provide sustenance for countless individuals, they may cause substantial impacts when they escape or are released (i.e., become feral) and then become invasive with impacts...

Brown seaweeds are a rich source of carotenoids, particularly fucoxanthin, which has a wide range of potential health applications. Fucoxanthin fluctuates within and among seaweeds over time, frustrating efforts to utilise this resource. Thus, we require comprehensive analyses of long- and short-term concentrations across species in field condition...

The rapid acceleration of human-mediated translocation of species has led to the introduction of thousands of species outside their native range with severe consequences for global biodiversity. Freshwater cray sh are a particularly successful group of invasive species as exempli ed by the increasingly widespread marbled cray sh. A signi cant porti...

Freshwaters are considered to be the most vulnerable ecosystems facing biological invasions, and the red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) is one of the most widespread aquatic invasive species in the world. P. clarkii has negative impacts on water quality in the lakes that it invades by, for instance, increasing their turbidity and nutrient con...

Anthropogenic disturbances, including non-indigenous species (NIS) and climate change, have considerably affected ecosystems and socio-economies globally. Despite the widely acknowledged individual roles of NIS and global warming in biodiversity change, predicting the connection between the two still remains a fundamental challenge and requires urg...

Protecting aquatic ecosystems requires comprehensive understanding and quantification of threats posed by invasive species to inform effective management strategy. In particular, aquatic invasive plants cause profound alterations to aquatic ecosystem composition, structure and productivity, however, monetary cost assessments have lacked at large sc...

Over recent centuries, invasive species with devastating environmental and socio-economic impacts have rapidly spread worldwide. A hypothesis posits that the number of impactful invasive species increases proportionally with the number of non-native species more generally. A competing hypothesis suggests that certain features (e.g., demographic res...

Aim Human activities have introduced numerous non‐native species (NNS) worldwide. Understanding and predicting large‐scale NNS establishment patterns remain fundamental scientific challenges. Here, we evaluate if NNS composition represents a proportional subset of the total species pool available to invade (i.e. total global biodiversity), or, conv...

Biological invasions pose a growing threat to ecosystems, biodiversity, and socio-economic interests. In the European Union, the introduction of non-native species through trade, tourism, and other pathways has led to unintended consequences. Among these non-native species, a subset exhibits negative impacts and is commonly referred to as ‘invasive...

Predatory non-indigenous species (NIS) have profound impacts on global ecosystems, potentially leading to native prey extinction and reshaping community dynamics. Among mechanisms potentially mediating predator impacts and prey invasion success are predator preferences between native vs. non-indigenous prey, a topic still underexplored. Using funct...

Biological invasions pose a significant threat to biodiversity, planetary health and socio‐economies worldwide. Prioritizing invasive species for management is crucial, given the limited economic resources available. While global invasive species risk scoring systems exist, they currently do not incorporate fully quantitative impact metrics. Howeve...

Agricultural and urban activities in subtropical landscapes are often near natural waterways such as wetlands and rivers, given the relative lack of water at the landscape level. These activities are likely to have different implications for aquatic macroinvertebrate colonisation, should it reach these waterways. The current study investigated macr...

Invasive hematophagous arthropods threaten planetary health by vectoring a growing diversity of pathogens and parasites which cause diseases. Efforts to limit human and animal morbidity and mortality caused by these disease vectors are dependent on understandings of their biology and ecology-from cellular to ecosystem levels. Here, we review resear...

Standardized terminology in science is important for clarity of interpretation and communication. In invasion science — a dynamic and quickly evolving discipline — the rapid proliferation of technical terminology has lacked a standardized framework for its language development. The result is a convoluted and inconsistent usage of terminology, with...

Biological invasions represent a major threat to biodiversity, especially in cold insular environments characterized by high levels of endemism and low species diversity which are heavily impacted by global warming. Terrestrial invertebrates are very responsive to environmental changes, and native terrestrial invertebrates from cold islands tend to...

Biological invasions are a global challenge that has received insufficient attention. Recently available cost syntheses have provided policy and decision makers with reliable and up-to-date information on the economic impacts of biological invasions, aiming to motivate effective management. The resultant InvaCost database is now publicly and freely...

Biological invasions have increased significantly with the tremendous growth of international trade and transport. Hematophagous arthropods can be vectors of infectious and potentially lethal pathogens and parasites, thus constituting a growing threat to humans—especially when associated with biological invasions. Today, several major vector-borne...

The widespread acceleration of freshwater salinisation due to human activities, such as pollution , resource extraction and urbanisation coupled with climate change, poses a significant threat to aquatic ecosystems. Limited work has been directed towards salinisation effects in temporary wetland systems. These systems are characterised by unique cr...

Microplastic pollution in aquatic environments has been a ubiquitous concern in recent years, owing to their rapid production combined with poor waste management practices. However, information on freshwater microplastics in the Global South is still scarce, despite growing research on freshwater microplastics in recent years, particularly within t...

Microplastic presence in aquatic environments is a major problem globally. This study quantified microplastic abundances in fish species across two systems in South Africa around wastewater treatment works. Fish (n=163) were examined for microplastic on gills and in gastrointestinal tracts. Microplastic levels were generally low during the cool-dry...

The contamination of surface water by heavy metals, especially mercury, has become a global issue. This problem is particularly exacerbated in rivers and reservoirs situated in developing nations. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of illegal gold mining activities on freshwater Potamonautid crabs and to quantify the...

Predicting which non-native species will negatively impact biodiversity is a longstanding research priority. The Functional Response (FR; resource use in relation to availability) is a classical ecological concept that has been increasingly applied to quantify, assess and compare ecological impacts of non-native species. Despite this recent growth,...

Background Biological invasions threaten the functioning of ecosystems, biodiversity, and human well-being by degrading ecosystem services and eliciting massive economic costs. The European Union has historically been a hub for cultural development and global trade, and thus, has extensive opportunities for the introduction and spread of alien spec...

The high ecological impacts of many invasive alien trees have been well documented. However, to date, we lacked synthesis of their economic impacts, hampering management actions. Here, we summarize the cost records of invasive trees to (I) identify invasive trees with cost information and their geographic locations, (II) investigate the types of co...

Human use of powerline servitude corridors for the secure transmission and distribution of electricity disturbs natural landscapes and changes vegetation patterns. We examined vegetation communities under two powerlines in the Limpopo province, South Africa (Khakhu line 22KV and Fundudzi 132KV powerlines). Twelve invasive alien species were identif...

Inland water systems are regarded as a pathway and sink of plastic pollutants from the terrestrial environment. Aquatic ecosystems are globally contaminated with microplastics, but the spatiotemporal occurrence and density of microplastics in freshwater ecosystems remain poorly understood. The present study seasonally assessed differences in microp...

Zoochory, or movement of organisms by animals, can be an extremely effective means of dispersal. In freshwaters, where aquatic invertebrates can be passively spread, zoochory is vital to connect isolated and temporary waterbodies (Bohonak and Whiteman 1999, Allen 2007, Vanschoenwinkel et al. 2008a, b, Green et al. 2023). While zoochory dynamics hav...

Globalization challenges sustainability by intensifying the ecological and economic impacts of biological invasions. These impacts may be unevenly distributed worldwide, with costs disproportionately incurred by a few regions. We identify economic cost distributions of invasions among origin and recipient countries and continents, and determine soc...

Biological invasions cause multi-trillion-dollar impacts worldwide. However, the development of approaches to predict drivers and magnitudes of economic costs remain limited. The use of fitness-relevant traits offers a promising, yet neglected, avenue to close this gap. Certain traits acquired during evolutionary history predispose species to succe...

Fogging with insecticides is one of the main control measures for adult mosquito populations employed in countries that are affected by dengue. In many such countries, urban communities are increasingly characterised by high-density residence in high-rise condominia. Although fogging is typically applied at the ground level, its efficacy in three-d...

Rates of biological invasion have increased over recent centuries and are expected to increase in the future. Whereas increasing rates of non-native species incursions across realms, taxonomic groups, and regions are well-reported, trends in abundances within these contexts have lacked analysis due to a paucity of long-term data at large spatiotemp...

Microplastics are a ubiquitous and persistent form of pollution globally, with impacts cascading from the cellular to ecosystem level. However, there is a paucity in understanding interactions between microplastic pollution with other environmental stressors, and how these could affect ecological functions and services. Freshwater ecosystems are su...

As alien invasive species are a key driver of biodiversity loss, understanding patterns of rapidly changing global species compositions depends upon knowledge of invasive species population dynamics and trends at large scales. Within this context, the Ponto-Caspian region is among the most notable donor regions for aquatic invasive species in Europ...

The strength of trophic and non-trophic interactions in predator–prey dynamics may be modified by predator density/diversity and prey size characteristics. In aquatic environments, multi-dimensional scaling of search areas (water depth and surface area) may mediate interactions among predators, with implications for prey risk. Here, we used a compa...

Natural hazards — such as storms, floods, and wildfires — can be disastrous phenomena and so can biological invasions, for which impacts are often irrevocable and insidious. Yet, biological invasion awareness remains low compared to natural hazards, and investments to manage invasions remain vastly underfunded and delayed. Here, we quantified biolo...

Microplastics have become a major environmental concern around the world due to their potential impact on ecosystem functioning and biota. Microplastics enter freshwater systems through a variety of sources, with wastewater treatment work discharges being the most important source. The study aimed to determine the seasonal (i.e., hot–wet, cool–dry)...

Background Rodents are among the most notorious invasive alien species worldwide. These invaders have substantially impacted native ecosystems, food production and storage, local infrastructures, human health and well-being. However, the lack of standardized and understandable estimation of their impacts is a serious barrier to raising societal awa...

Background: Biological invasions threaten the functioning of ecosystems, biodiversity, and human well-being by degrading ecosystem services and eliciting massive economic costs. The European Union, as the world’s third-largest economy, has historically been a hub for cultural development and global trade, and thus, has extensive opportunities for t...

Biological invasions are a global challenge that has received insufficient attention. Recently available cost syntheses have provided policy and decision makers with reliable and up-to-date information on the economic impacts of invasive alien species, aiming to motivate effective management. The resultant InvaCost database is now publicly and free...

Identifying general patterns and trends underlying the impacts and dynamics of biological invasions has proven elusive for scientists. Recently, the impact curve was proposed as a means to predict temporal impacts of invasive alien species, characterised by a sigmoidal growth pattern with an initial exponential increase, followed by a subsequent ra...

Climate change could shift the impacts of biological invasions on aquatic ecosystems. Sea freshening is an often-inconspicuous consequence of climatic change that may modify invasive alien species performance in enclosed seas. Several gammarid crustaceans have been particularly successful aliens across fresh, brackish, and marine waters. Here, we u...

Many human-introduced alien species economically impact essential industries worldwide. Management prioritization and coordination efforts towards biological invasions are hampered by a lack of comprehensive quantification of costs to key economic activity sectors. Here, we quantify and predict global invasion costs to seven major sectors and unrav...