Invasive plant species are increasing exponentially, but no one knows how many species there are

Invasive plants can have devastating effects on local ecologies, comparable to the effects wrought by global warming. And yet, there is currently no reliable understanding of how many invasive plant species there are in the world. New research, led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and recently published in Ecological Applications, is the first to comprehensively pinpoint the various unknowns that must be addressed in order to intelligently manage invasive species around the world.