Misidentifications are an important but neglected problem in studies on plant invasions. This review shows how taxonomic education of staff and stakeholders is of great importance for correctly assessing threats provoked by alien plant species in field and literature based studies. Four randomly chosen recent examples (Digitaria violascens, Eleocharis pellucida, Juncus dichotomus and Vicia dalmatica) from Europe demonstrate that, as a result of an initial erroneous identification and/or confusion with similar harmless species, potentially noxious environmental weeds have been able to become fully naturalised. They act as “invaders in disguise” and therefore constitute a real problem for conservation management.

This paper provides information about two topics rarely found in literature on invasions: 1‐the record of succulent species naturalised within a continentaltype climate area (Teruel, NE Spain), 2‐the distinction between taxonomical varieties of invasive taxa. Besides, historical information on introduction, area of origin and taxonomical consideration is provided for each taxa. A. americana var. marginata Trel, Agave ingens Berger, Malephora purpureocrocea (Haw.) Schwantes and Sedum dendroideum DC. subsp. praealtum (A. DC.) R. T. Clausen are recorded for the first time in the area.

The consideration of non‐native freshwater fish species in the management plans of 18 Biosphere Reserves is evaluated. Additionally, impacts caused by introduced freshwater fish species are described. Some measures to alleviate the ecological effects of fish species introductions are proposed, while paying attention to local development as well. The introduction of non‐native species may have negative consequences for the ecosystems. The analysis of the management plans of the Reserves confirms that non‐native freshwater fish species sometimes are not considered in the action plans of the area. Biosphere Reserve’s management plans should consider the presence of alien species, with the aim to preserve biodiversity.

Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) is a powerful analytical approach for biodiversity management. Its main advantages are due to its intuitive processing and visualization, since mathematical workflow is conceptually similar to the widely accepted Principal Components Analysis. Detailed analyses of population trends with mathematical tools are often difficult to achieve for managers by a number of reasons (large numbers or areas monitored, large number of species, insufficient statistics skills, strong knowledge level in demographic analyses, etc.). SSA has been used since the 1970’s in signal processing to clarify signal vs. noisy information, but it has also been used in climate change analysis and other developmental areas. Besides, SSA is a rapid‐learning method for technicians and managers with medium level of mathematical knowledge. Free software in Unix environment is available. Unfortunately, no free and friendly software is available for Windows SO. Although R package may offer solutions for really advanced users, it does not fit real work situations for managers of biological invasions. Caterpillar (Gistat Group, Ltd) is by now, the best option found by the author in terms of price, facility for results interpretation and time consumed in learning. The main disadvantage is the poor content of tutorial files.

Effective management of invasions by Fallopia japonica are currently limited to repeated annual herbicide applications and research efforts are needed to determine integrated costeffective treatments that result in greater management success. We evaluated several different herbicides for F. japonica control in the greenhouse and under field conditions and coupled chemical control with restoration activities at an invaded site. Results suggest that: 1) glyphosate applied at 4.21 kg ae/ha is the most cost effective treatment option, 2) the standard rate for F. japonica control with aminocyclopyrachlor is approximately equivalent to the 0.56 kg ai/ha, 3) restoration with grasses can be coupled with targeted chemical control.