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Scientists identify 66 alien species that pose the greatest threat to European biodiversity

Scientists identify 66 alien species that pose the greatest threat to European biodiversity

From an initial working list of 329 alien species considered to pose threats to biodiversity recently published by the EU, scientists have derived and agreed a list of eight species considered to be very high risk, 40 considered to be high risk, and 18 considered to be medium risk. The authors developed a horizon-scanning approach in order to derive a ranked list of potential invasive alien species. The approach is unique in the continental scale examined, the breadth of taxonomic groups and environments considered, and the methods and data sources used. Species considered included plants, terrestrial invertebrates, marine species, freshwater invertebrates and vertebrates. The highest proportion of the species identified originate in Asia, North America and South America. Aquatic species are most likely to arrive via shipping, while terrestrial invertebrates are most likely to arrive along with goods such as plants. The Mediterranean, Continental, Macaronesian and Atlantic biogeographic regions are predicted to be the most threatened across all taxonomic groups, while the Baltic, Black Sea and Boreal regions are least at risk. The Alpine region appears not to be under threat by any species. informacion[at]ebd.csic.es: Roy et al. (2018). Developing a list of invasive alien species likely to threaten biodiversity and ecosystems in the European Union. Glob Chang Biol DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14527


https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.14527