Published February 25, 2026 | Version 4.0
Dataset Open

FirstRecords: A global dataset of first records of non-native species

Authors/Creators

  • 1. ROR icon University of Giessen
  • 2. ROR icon Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre

Contributors

Data collectors:

  • 1. ROR icon University of Vienna
  • 2. ROR icon University College London
  • 3. Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA)
  • 4. ROR icon Lincoln University
  • 5. ROR icon Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries
  • 6. IUCN Species Survival Commission Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG)
  • 7. ROR icon Czech Academy of Sciences
  • 8. ROR icon German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research
  • 9. ROR icon National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
  • 10. ROR icon University of Fribourg
  • 11. University of Oldenburg
  • 12. ROR icon University of Sassari
  • 13. CIBIO/InBIO
  • 14. ROR icon Sapienza University of Rome
  • 15. ROR icon Durham University
  • 16. ROR icon Universidad Nacional de Concepción
  • 17. ROR icon Charles Darwin Foundation
  • 18. Biota of North America Program (BONAP)
  • 19. ROR icon CAB International
  • 20. Georg-August-University Göttingen
  • 21. ROR icon Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
  • 22. US Forest Service Northern Research Station
  • 23. ROR icon Bielefeld University
  • 24. ROR icon Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland
  • 25. ROR icon Environment Agency Austria
  • 26. ROR icon Smithsonian Institution
  • 27. ROR icon Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique
  • 28. ROR icon UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
  • 29. University of Silesia in Katowice
  • 30. ROR icon University of Konstanz
  • 31. ROR icon National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences
  • 32. ROR icon Kwame Nkrumah University
  • 33. Scion (New Zealand Forest Research Institute)
  • 34. ROR icon Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University
  • 35. ROR icon University of Hong Kong
  • 36. ROR icon University of Auckland
  • 37. ROR icon Russian Academy of Sciences
  • 38. CREAF (Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications), Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Catalonia, Spain

Description

The Non-native Species First Records dataset (short: FirstRecords) contains years of first records when a non-native species was first recorded in a region (mostly countries, but also sub-national units).

The first records were gathered in a collaborative effort involving >50 researchers worldwide from various sources consisting of online databases, scientific publications, reports and personal collections. A full list of data sources is provided in the file "FirstRecord_main_dataset_sources.csv". The dataset and the workflow to generate the dataset are described in detail here:

Truong Renard, T. & Seebens, H. (under review) A global dataset of first records of non-native species.

Please cite this publication when using the dataset.

The publication also contains usage notes, which should be carefully read before using this dataset. The publication also includes a detailed description of the randomisation process for first records provided as time intervals, the handling of first records without permission for sharing, and the assignment of confidence levels.

The repository provides the following files:

  • FirstRecords_dataset_public_v.4.0.csv: Main dataset containing information of taxon, location, invasion status, and first record
  • FirstRecords_dataset_public_v.4.0.csv: Table providing taxonomic information for each taxon in the FirstRecords dataset including original names
  • FirstRecords_main_dataset_sources.csv: Table of data sources used to compile the FirstRecords dataset
  • FirstRecords_location_table_public_v.4.0.csv: Table of locations including their original names
  • IntroData_raw_2026_public.xlsx: Input dataset of the records before harmonisation. This dataset should only be used for re-running the workflow rather than any analyses.

The workflow to generate the FirstRecords dataset is available on Zenodo: ...

Key publications using this dataset and providing more information about potentials and limitations are:

Seebens, H., Blackburn, T. M., Dyer, E. E., Genovesi, P., Hulme, P. E., Jeschke, J. M., … Essl, F. (2017). No saturation in the accumulation of alien species worldwide. Nature Communications, 8(1), 14435. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14435

Seebens, H., Blackburn, T. M., Dyer, E. E., Genovesi, P., Hulme, P. E., Jeschke, J. M., … Essl, F. (2018). Global rise in emerging alien species results from increased accessibility of new source pools. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(10), E2264–E2273. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1719429115

Seebens H, Bacher S, Blackburn TM, Capinha C, Dawson W, Dullinger S, Genovesi P, Hulme PE, Kleunen M, Kühn I, Jeschke JM, Lenzner B, Liebhold AM, Pattison Z, Pergl J, Pyšek P, Winter M, Essl F (2021) Projecting the continental accumulation of alien species through to 2050. Global Change Biology 27: 970–982. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15333 

Notes

Version 4.0 represents a fully revised and extended version of 3.1. The workflow to generate the dataset has been rewritten and published, making the workflow fully transparent and reproducible. Among others, the new version contains a confidence level for each first record to indicate the quality of the originally provided information on first record.

 

Files

FirstRecords_dataset_public_v4.0.csv

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