Many invasive non-native species gradually become embedded within local cultures. Such species can increasingly be perceived by society as familiar or even native elements of the social-ecological system and become an integral part of local cultures. Here, we explore this phenomenon and refer to it as the cultural integration of invasive species. Although culturally integrated species can positively contribute to people's lives and well-being, and provide new or lost ecosystem services, their acceptance can also hinder the ability of conservation managers to successfully manage invasive species by reducing public support for their management. Cultural integration can infringe upon social values and cultural identities, and contribute to the erosion and homogenization of biocultural diversity. It can also modify or displace the cultural uses and values of native species, and may disrupt social-ecological legacies and dynamics. We present the main mechanisms of cultural integration, its drivers and major implications, and provide key recommendations for the management and conservation of biological and cultural diversity.

Aix Marseilles Université CNRS Centre Gilles Gaston Granger Aix en Provence France

Berlin Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research Berlin Germany

Biodiversity Unit University of Turku Turku Finland

Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Hydrobiology České Budějovice Czech Republic

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

Centre for Sustainability University of Otago Dunedin New Zealand

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

Department of Animal Biology Plant Biology and Ecology Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Cerdanyola del Vallès Barcelona Spain

Department of Biology and Biochemistry University of Houston Houston TX USA

Department of Ecology Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Department of Marine Renewable Resources Institute of Marine Sciences Barcelona Spain

Department of Sociology and Anthropology The Hebrew University Jerusalem Israel

Department of Sociology University of California Davis CA USA

Division of BioInvasions Global Change and Macroecology Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research University of Vienna Vienna Austria

Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Almería Spain

Grupo de Ecología de Invasiones INIBIOMA CONICET Universidad Nacional del Comahue Bariloche Argentina

Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland

Helsinki Lab of Interdisciplinary Conservation Science Department of Geosciences and Geography University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland

HUN REN Centre for Ecological Research Institute of Ecology and Botany Traditional Ecological Knowledge Research Group Vácrátót Hungary

Institute of Biological and Health Sciences Federal University of Alagoas Maceió AL Brazil

Institute of Biology Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Germany

Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries Berlin Germany

Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research Ben Gurion University of the Negev Midreshet Ben Gurion Israel

NBI Natural Business Intelligence Régia Douro Park Andrães Vila Real Portugal

School for Resource and Environmental Studies Dalhousie University Halifax Canada

School of Natural Sciences Ollscoil na Gaillimhe University of Galway Galway Ireland

School of Ocean Futures Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science Arizona State University Hilo HI USA

Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research Birmensdorf Switzerland

Université Paris Saclay CNRS AgroParisTech Ecologie Société Evolution Gif sur Yvette France

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