Data from: A global meta-analysis of the ecological impacts of alien species on native amphibians

The exponential increase in species introductions during the Anthropocene
has brought about a major loss of biodiversity. Amphibians have suffered
large declines, with more than 16% considered to be threatened by invasive
species. We conducted a global meta-analysis of the impacts of alien
species on native amphibians to determine which aspects of amphibian
ecology are most affected by plant, invertebrate, fish, amphibian, reptile
or mammal introductions. Measures of fitness were most strongly affected;
amphibian performance was consistently lower in the presence of alien
species. While exposure to alien species caused a significant decrease in
amphibian behavioural activity when compared to a no species control, this
response was stronger towards a control of native impacting species. This
indicates a high degree of prey naïveté towards alien species and
highlights the importance of using different types of controls in
empirical studies. Alien invertebrates had the greatest overall impact on
amphibians. This study sets a new agenda for research on biological
invasions, highlighting the lack of studies investigating impacts of alien
species on amphibian terrestrial life-history stages. It also emphasises
the strong ecological impacts that alien species have on amphibian fitness
and suggests that future introductions or global spread of alien
invertebrates could strongly exacerbate current amphibian declines.