Uncovering the role of chemical pollutants in shaping biological invasions
This review highlights a critical, understudied area: the interactive effects of chemical pollution and biological invasions on animal populations. It synthesizes existing knowledge, showing how pollutants can influence various traits (e.g., reproduction, behavior, thermal tolerance) that are crucial at different stages of an invasion, from uptake and transport to establishment and spread. The paper emphasizes that despite the individual impacts of pollution and invasions being well-documented, their combined effects are largely unexplored and represent a significant gap in ecological research.