Context dependence is widely invoked to explain disparate results in ecology. It arises when the magnitude or sign of a relationship varies due to the conditions under which it is observed. Such variation, especially when unexplained, can lead to spurious or seemingly contradictory conclusions, which can limit understanding and our ability to transfer findings across studies, space, and time. Using examples from biological invasions, we identify two types of context dependence resulting from four sources: mechanistic context dependence arises from interaction effects; and apparent context dependence can arise from the presence of confounding factors, problems of statistical inference, and methodological differences among studies. Addressing context dependence is a critical challenge in ecology, essential for increased understanding and prediction.

Bio Protection Research Centre Lincoln University Lincoln PO Box 85084 Christchurch 7648 New Zealand

Centre for Conservation Ecology and Genomics Institute for Applied Ecology University of Canberra Bruce ACT 2617 Australia

Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Botany Department of Invasion Ecology CZ 252 43 Průhonice Czech Republic; Department of Ecology Faculty of Science Charles University CZ 128 44 Prague Czech Republic

Department of Geography King's College London London WC2B 4BG UK; School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences University of Melbourne Victoria 3010 Australia

South African National Biodiversity Institute Kirstenbosch Research Centre Cape Town South Africa; Centre for Invasion Biology Department of Botany and Zoology Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch South Africa

References provided by Crossref.org

Framing challenges and polarized issues in invasion science: toward an interdisciplinary agenda

Multi-decadal improvements in the ecological quality of European rivers are not consistently reflected in biodiversity metrics

Disentangling the relationships among abundance, invasiveness and invasibility in trait space