There are many lists of invasive species available on the internet. They may be global, regional or national in scope, or may cover only one type of organism or one habitat type. Because the invasiveness of species differs in different places (and because they are native in parts of their range!) appearance on a list does not necessarily mean a species is invasive or alien where the user is working. Some lists include species which have been introduced outside their native range, for example in aquaculture, ornamental, biological control, etc., but which may not be invasive.
In addition to lists of invasive or potentially invasive species there are lists of species developed for taxonomic purposes, at least in part. These can be used to verify the names found on other lists.
Some lists include ‘common names’. These can be ambiguous, and may differ in their application across regions, and sometimes even within countries.
The resource list below is not fully comprehensive, but provides links to some of the larger databases with at least a regional spread.
Lists of Invasive and introduced species
CABI Invasive Species Compendium The ISC is a constantly developing encyclopaedic resource containing: Datasheets on over 1500 invasive species and animal diseases; Basic datasheets on further species, countries, habitats and pathways; Bibliographic database of over 75,000 records; Full text documents.
Global Invasive Species Database (GISD) The GISD focuses on invasive alien species that threaten native biodiversity and covers all taxonomic groups from micro-organisms to animals and plants in all ecosystems. Species information is either supplied by or reviewed by expert contributors from around the world. It is managed by the Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) of the Species Survival Commission of the IUCN-World Conservation Union.
Delivering Alien Invasive Species Inventories for Europe (DAISIE) The DAISIE database covers all taxa of marine, freshwater and terrestrial invasives in Europe.
European Alien Species Information network (EASIN) has a set of links to online resources including checklists of species. It also serves a Catalogue of alien species in Europe.
European network on Invasive alien Species (NOBANIS) Alien species database, searchable by species, taxonomic group, habitat and country. Covers all groups for Europe.
I3N database / Brazilian database on Invasive Alien Species The Brazilian database on invasive alien species developed by the Universidad Nacional del Sur, in Argentina, and by the Horus Institute and The Nature Conservancy in Brazil, has been offered as a free product for other countries in the process of compiling data on biological invasions. The page is available in English or Portuguese.
Island Biodiversity and Invasive Species Database Focused on the threat of invasive species on native species and ecosystems on islands.
Other lists of species
In using the resources below the user needs to understand what they deliver. With the exception of the Global Names Index the resources listed provide a taxonomic opinion – that it, what name is generally accepted as the one to be used. Some of the resources linked to from the Global Names Index (and the GBA itself) simply list the name, whether it is the one commonly accepted or not.
Catalogue of Life - database of the world's known species of animals, plants, fungi and micro-organisms. Product of a consortium delivering ca 70% of known species; used as a name backbone for GBIF, Encyclopedia of Life etc. All records have scientific names, many have common names where these exist. Connect to the source database for additional information about any taxon. The catalogue of Life includes Species 2000 and the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
Global Names Index (GNA) Lists all taxa, global. Index of scientific names provided by all Name Repositories (17,275,622 name strings total); can help find instances of the use of a name that is otherwise unknown.
Fishbase Fish, freshwater and marine, global. Use search system for scientific or common names.
SeaLifeBase All taxa, marine, global. Use search system for scientific or common names.
Catalog of Fishes Taxonomic resource, fish, global.