Native Species
From Beachapedia
Defining native species
Native species are most often defined as a species that naturally occurs within an area and was not introduced by anthropogenic influence. Defining a species as native or non-native can be somewhat subjective, and like other areas of taxonomy, can be dynamic and fluid as new information emerges. Some researchers have proposed the concept of a projected dispersal envelope (PDE)[1], which defines the region where a species is or could be native, irrespective of human involvement. The term native species is used somewhat interchangeably with “indigenous species”[2]. Defining native species has implications for a region's biodiversity, narratives of ecological interactions, and the removal or preservation of populations during human enacted conservation initiatives.
Defining endemic species
An endemic species is one that is only found within a given area. This term is typically used to describe a species with a highly limited distribution, or in a region with clearly defined limits, such as an island, a county, or a state. The term is useful to prioritize species for conservation and as an indicator of biodiversity within a region of interest[3].
- ↑ Webber, B.L. and Scott, J.K., 2012. Rapid global change: implications for defining natives and aliens. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 21(3), pp.305-311.
- ↑ Schwartz, M.W., 1997. Defining indigenous species: an introduction. In Assessment and management of plant invasions (pp. 7-17). Springer, New York, NY.
- ↑ Townsend Peterson, A. and Watson, D.M., 1998. Problems with areal definitions of endemism: the effects of spatial scaling. Diversity and Distributions, 4(4), pp.189-194.