Biological invasions are a defining feature of the Anthropocene, but the factors that determine the spatially uneven distribution of alien plant species are still poorly understood. Here, we present the first global analysis of the effects of biogeographic factors, the physical environment and socio-economy on the richness of naturalized and invasive alien plants. We used generalized linear mixed-effects models and variation partitioning to disentangle the relative importance of individual factors, and, more broadly, of biogeography, physical environment and socio-economy. As measures of the magnitude of permanent anthropogenic additions to the regional species pool and of species with negative environmental impacts, we calculated the relative richness of naturalized (= RRN) and invasive (= RRI) alien plant species numbers adjusted for the number of native species in 838 terrestrial regions. Socio-economic factors (per-capita gross domestic product (GDP), population density, proportion of agricultural land) were more important in explaining RRI (~50 % of the explained variation) than RRN (~40 %). Warm-temperate and (sub)tropical regions have higher RRN than tropical or cooler regions. We found that socio-economic pressures are more relevant for invasive than for naturalized species richness. The expectation that the southern hemisphere is more invaded than the northern hemisphere was confirmed only for RRN on islands, but not for mainland regions nor for RRI. On average, islands have ~6-fold RRN, and >3-fold RRI compared to mainland regions. Eighty-two islands (=26 % of all islands) harbour more naturalized alien than native plants. Our findings challenge the widely held expectation that socio-economic pressures are more relevant for plant naturalization than for invasive plants. To meet international biodiversity targets and halt the detrimental consequences of plant invasions, it is essential to disrupt the connection between socio-economic development and plant invasions by improving pathway management, early detection and rapid response.

Biodiversity Macroecology and Biogeography University of Goettingen Göttingen Germany

Biota of North America Program Chapel Hill NC USA

Centre for Invasion Biology Department of Botany and Zoology Stellenbosch University Matieland South Africa

Chair IUCN Species Survival Commission's Invasive Species Specialist Group Rome Italy

Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques de la Ville de Genève Genève Switzerland

Department of Biosciences Durham University Durham UK

Department of Ecology Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Department of Environmental Studies and Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems University of Delhi Delhi India

Department of Geography University Marburg Deutschhausstraße Marburg Germany

Division of Conservation Landscape and Vegetation Ecology Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research University of Vienna Vienna Austria

Ecology University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany

German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle Jena Leipzig Leipzig Germany

Institute for Environmental Protection and Research Rome Italy

Institute of Biochemistry and Biology University of Potsdam Potsdam Germany

Institute of Geography RAS Staromonetny Moscow Russia

IUCN Species Survival Commission's Invasive Species Specialist Group University of Auckland Auckland New Zealand

Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre Frankfurt am Main Germany

State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources College of Ecology and Evolution Sun Yat sen University Guangzhou China

The Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Botany Department of Invasion Ecology Průhonice Czech Republic

Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Taizhou University Taizhou China

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Plant invasion and naturalization are influenced by genome size, ecology and economic use globally

The role of phylogenetic relatedness on alien plant success depends on the stage of invasion

The global loss of floristic uniqueness

Effects of land-use change and related pressures on alien and native subsets of island communities

Scientists' warning on invasive alien species

Economic use of plants is key to their naturalization success