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Invasive insect pests adversely impact human welfare and global ecosystems. However, no studies have used a unified scheme to compare the range dynamics of the world’s worst invasive insect pests. We investigated the future range shifts of 15 of the world’s worst invasive insect pests. Although future range dynamics varied substantially among the 15 worst invasive insect pests, most exhibited large range expansions. Increases in the total habitat suitability occurred in more than ca. 85% of global terrestrial regions. The relative impacts of anthropogenic disturbance and climate variables on the range dynamics depended on the species and spatial scale. Aedes albopictus, Cinara cupressi, and Trogoderma granarium occurred four times in the top five largest potential ranges under four future climate scenarios. Anoplophora glabripennis, Aedes albopictus, and Co. formosanus were predicted to have the largest range expansions. An. glabripennis, Pl. manokwari, Co. formosanus, and So. invicta showed the largest range centroid shifts. More effective strategies will be required to prevent their range expansions. Although the strategies should be species-specific, mitigating anthropogenic disturbances and climate change will be essential to preventing future invasions. This study provides critical and novel insights for developing global strategies to combat the invasions of invasive insect pests in the future.

Niche and range shifts of invasive species are essential in assessing the risk of biological invasions and developing ecological niches and species distribution theories. Studies on invasive aquatic species' niche and range shifts have important implications for conserving aquatic invasive ecosystems. Here we used niche and range dynamic models to explore niche and range shifts of the golden apple snail Pomacea canaliculata, one of the world's most invasive aquatic species. The major factors responsible for P. canaliculata niche shifts in native and invaded regions were minimum temperature of the coldest month and precipitation in the warmest quarter. The niche and range of invasive P. canaliculata snails were not conserved relative to their native counterparts and had a broader niche and larger range, which are consistent with the findings that invasive P. canaliculata snails could survive in colder, hotter, drier, and wetter climates. Given that niche nonconservatism could result in range nonconservatism and small increases in niche breadth could induce large range expansions, niche shifts might provide a more sensitive indicator of invasion risk than range shifts. In contrast to most invasive species that show conservatism of their native niches, we observed high niche lability between the P. canaliculata snails in the native and invaded regions. Our findings indicate that the golden apple snail is a high‐risk invasive aquatic species for its ability to aggressively proliferate through its rapid reproduction rate, fast growth as suggested by previous studies, and also for its highly labile niches and ranges, which facilitates adaptation to the climate of the introduced regions.

The fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea Dury) has a strong impact on agricultural systems in Europe. However, its invasive potential, which was inherited from its native niche in North America, remains unknown. Here, we investigated the climatic niche and range shifts of the fall webworm in Europe and compared them with those in native North America, then assessed the worms’ invasive potential in Europe. Compared with the fall webworm in Europe, those in North America survived in more diverse climatic conditions, which was closely associated with their broader niche and larger potential ranges in Europe. If the fall webworm in Europe could exploit the native niche inherited from those in North America to adapt to climatic conditions in Europe, their potential ranges in Europe could be 5.5-fold those based on the niche as introduced in Europe. The potentially unfilled ranges of the fall webworm in Europe were mainly detected in vast regions of Europe, excluding Norway, Sweden, Finland, North Russia, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, and Ukraine, suggesting that, without strict control, these vast regions might be preferably invaded by the fall webworm in Europe in the future. Therefore, strict control against its invasion is needed. Given that small niche shifts in this invasive insect could result in large range shifts, the niche shifts represent a more sensitive indicator of invasion risk than range shifts.

Maize ( L.) is a staple crop cultivated on a global scale. However, its ability to feed the rapidly growing human population may be impaired by climate change, especially if it has low climatic niche and range lability. One important question requiring clarification is therefore whether maize shows high niche and range lability. We used the COUE scheme (a unified terminology representing niche centroid shift, overlap, unfilling and expansion) and species distribution models to study the niche and range changes between maize and its wild progenitors using occurrence records of maize, lowland teosinte ( ssp. ) and highland teosinte ( ssp. ), respectively, as well as explore the mechanisms underlying the niche and range changes. In contrast to maize in Mexico, maize did not conserve its niche inherited from lowland and highland teosinte at the global scale. The niche breadth of maize at the global scale was wider than that of its wild progenitors (ca. 5.21 and 3.53 times wider compared with lowland and highland teosinte, respectively). Compared with its wild progenitors, maize at global scale can survive in regions with colder, wetter climatic conditions, as well as with wider ranges of climatic variables (ca. 4.51 and 2.40 times wider compared with lowland and highland teosinte, respectively). The niche changes of maize were largely driven by human introduction and cultivation, which have exposed maize to climatic conditions different from those experienced by its wild progenitors. Small changes in niche breadth had large effects on the magnitude of range shifts; changes in niche breadth thus merit increased attention. Our results demonstrate that maize shows wide climatic niche and range lability, and this substantially expanded its realized niche and potential range. Our findings also suggest that niche and range shifts probably triggered by natural and artificial selection in cultivation may enable maize to become a global staple crop to feed the growing population and adapting to changing climatic conditions. Future analyses are needed to determine the limits of the novel conditions that maize can tolerate, especially relative to projected climate change.

Both the eight-spined spruce bark beetle (eight-spined beetle, Ips typographus) and the six-spined spruce bark beetle (six-spined beetle, Pityogenes chalcographus) have major deleterious effects on Norway spruce (i.e., Picea abies, the host tree) in Europe. However, future potential range shifts of the two pests and their range overlap with Norway spruce have not yet been characterized. Through range dynamic models, we characterized their future range expansions, as well as their range overlap with their host tree under current–future change scenarios in 2100. Host availability was the greatest contributor to the range shifts of the two pests, and climatic changes were the main drivers of the range expansion of the host. The potential range, expanded range, and overlapped range were larger for the six-spined beetle than for the eight-spined beetle. The host tree, i.e., Norway spruce, might face increasing threats from the two pests in the future. Future climate change will likely indirectly facilitate range shifts of pests by promoting increases in the area capable of sustaining the host tree. The six-spined beetle might pose a greater threat to Norway spruce than the eight-spined beetle, albeit the latter has previously been considered to have more deleterious effects on Norway spruce.

The ecological niche concept has provided insights into various areas in ecology and biogeography. Although there remains much controversy regarding whether species niches are conserved across space and time, many recent studies have suggested that invasive species conserve their climatic niche between native and introduced ranges; however, whether the climatic niche of cultivated invasive species, whose niches are strongly affected by human activities, are conserved between native and introduced ranges remains unclear. Additionally, the range dynamics of invasive species in their native and introduced regions have not been extensively studied. Here, we investigated the niche and range dynamics of Tasmanian blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus Labill.), a globally cultivated invasive tree, using ecological niche models and niche dynamic analyses. The most important factors affecting the niche changes between native and introduced Tasmanian blue gum were max temperature of the warmest month and precipitation of the wettest month. The climate niche was not conserved between introduced and native range Tasmanian blue gum; moreover, the niche area of the former was ca. 7.4 times larger than that of the latter, as introduced Tasmanian blue gum could survive in hotter, colder, wetter, and drier climates. In addition, the potential range of introduced Tasmanian blue gum was ca. 32 times larger than that of its native counterpart. Human introduction and cultivation may play a key role in the niche and range expansion of introduced Tasmanian blue gum. Given that small increases in niche area can result in large range expansions, the niche expansion of an invasive species could be used to evaluate invasion risk, which might even be more sensitive than range expansions. The climate niche was conserved between introduced and native Tasmanian blue gum, though the niche breadth of the former was ca. 1.96 times wider than that of the latter. Small increases in niche breadth can result in large range expansions of Tasmanian blue gum.The niche expansion of an invasive species could be used to evaluate invasion risk, which might even be more sensitive than range expansion.

The use of low-cost and easily accessible fly ash for CO 2 mineralization and sequestration can effectively control carbon emissions. In this paper, Mg(OH) 2 was used as a reaction catalyst, and ultraviolet radiation was applied to fly ash to enhance its CO 2 uptake capacity. The effects of temperature, catalyst content, and UV radiation time on the CO 2 uptake performance of fly ash under low-concentration CO 2 conditions were studied respectively. The experimental results show that UV radiation can effectively promote the CO 2 uptake capacity of modified fly ash. After adding 0.5 g of Mg(OH) 2 and 24 h UV radiation pretreatment, the CO 2 uptake capacity of fly ash reaches 70.77 g-CO 2 /kg-FA, and the carbonation efficiency is 58.31%.

The use of low-cost and easily accessible fly ash for CO2 mineralization and sequestration can effectively control carbon emissions. In this paper, Mg(OH)2 was used as a reaction catalyst, and ultraviolet radiation was applied to fly ash to enhance its CO2 uptake capacity. The effects of temperature, catalyst content, and UV radiation time on the CO2 uptake performance of fly ash under low-concentration CO2 conditions were studied respectively. The experimental results show that UV radiation can effectively promote the CO2 uptake capacity of modified fly ash. After adding 0.5 g of Mg(OH)2 and 24 h UV radiation pretreatment, the CO2 uptake capacity of fly ash reaches 70.77 g-CO2/kg-FA, and the carbonation efficiency is 58.31%.

2(S)-dihydroxypropanesulfonate (DHPS) is a microbial degradation product of 6-deoxy-6-sulfo-d-glucopyranose (sulfoquinovose), a component of plant sulfolipid with an estimated annual production of 1010 tons. DHPS is also at millimolar levels in highly abundant marine phytoplankton. Its degradation and sulfur recycling by microbes, thus, play important roles in the biogeochemical sulfur cycle. However, DHPS degradative pathways in the anaerobic biosphere are not well understood. Here, we report the discovery and characterization of two O₂-sensitive glycyl radical enzymes that use distinct mechanisms for DHPS degradation. DHPS-sulfolyase (HpsG) in sulfate- and sulfite-reducing bacteria catalyzes C–S cleavage to release sulfite for use as a terminal electron acceptor in respiration, producing H₂S. DHPS-dehydratase (HpfG), in fermenting bacteria, catalyzes C–O cleavage to generate 3-sulfopropionaldehyde, subsequently reduced by the NADH-dependent sulfopropionaldehyde reductase (HpfD). Both enzymes are present in bacteria from diverse environments including human gut, suggesting the contribution of enzymatic radical chemistry to sulfur flux in various anaerobic niches.