BioInvasions Records (2021) Volume 10, Issue 3: 521–536 Dana et al. (2021), BioInvasions Records 10(3): 521–536, https://doi.org/10.3391/bir.2021.10.3.02 521 CORRECTED PROOF Research Article Senecio brasiliensis (Spreng.) Less. (Asteraceae), another potentially invasive alien species in Europe Elias D. Dana 1 , Filip Verloove 2, *, Paulo Alves 3 and Gustavo Heiden 4 1 Research Group Transferencia de I+D en Recursos Naturales, Plan Andaluz de Investigación, Sevilla, Spain 2 Meise Botanic Garden, Nieuwelaan 38, BE-1860, Meise, Belgium 3 Floradata-Biodiversidade, Ambiente e Recursos Naturais, Lda., Avenida de Fernão de Magalhães, 607 4.º Esq, 4350-164 Porto, Portugal 4 Embrapa Clima Temperado, Caixa Postal 403, Rodovia BR 392, km 78, Pelotas, RS 96010-971, Brazil Author e-mails: eliasdana.ecology@gmail.com (EDD), filip.verloove@botanicgardenmeise.be (FV), avoervas@gmail.com (PA), gustavo.heiden@embrapa.br (GH) *Corresponding author Abstract Senecio brasiliensis (Spreng.) Less., native to South America (Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and Argentina), is reported for the first time as a naturalized alien species from Europe (near Porto; Portugal). The species’ taxonomy and nomenclature were analysed based on literature data. Its ecology, habitat, biology and possible vector of introduction are discussed. As a necessary step towards a risk assessment, the suitability of European climates for the species’ settlement was analysed. Fourteen countries with suitable climatic conditions appeared in all our models: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom (England). Given the ecological characteristics of the species and the climatic features of the areas analysed, it is concluded that S. brasiliensis exhibits a great potential to become an invasive alien in Europe. Key words: biological invasion, climatic matching, exotic species, introduced species, invasive species, Portugal, risk assessment Introduction Senecio L. (Asteraceae) was long thought to be one of the largest genera of flowering plants on earth with approximately 3,000 species (Jeffrey et al. 1977). Molecular phylogenetic studies, however, shed new light on the boundaries of the genus. The tribe Senecioneae was shown to be paraphyletic (Knox and Palmer 1995) and Senecio itself para- or polyphyletic (Knox and Palmer 1995; Pelser et al. 2002). Pelser et al. (2007) proposed a new delimitation of the genus based on DNA sequence data. In its new circumscription, Senecio still counts ca. 1,000 species with an almost worldwide distribution. The genus exhibits enormous variation in life-history strategies (ranging from annual or perennial herbs to shrubs, vines, trees or epiphytes) and morphology, especially with respect to leaf shape, indumentum, inflorescence Citation: Dana ED, Verloove F, Alves P, Heiden G (2021) Senecio brasiliensis (Spreng.) Less. (Asteraceae), another potentially invasive alien species in Europe. BioInvasions Records 10(3): 521– 536, https://doi.org/10.3391/bir.2021.10.3.02 Received: 22 December 2020 Accepted: 23 February 2021 Published: 10 May 2021 Handling editor: Margarita Arianoutsou Thematic editor: Giuseppe Brundu Copyright: © Dana et al. This is an open access article distributed under terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (Attribution 4.0 International - CC BY 4.0). OPEN ACCESS.