Tackling invasive alien species in Europe II: threats and opportunities until 2020

Invasive alien species (IAS) are a significant and growing problem worldwide. In Europe, some aspects of IAS have been addressed through existing legal instruments, but these are far from sufficient to tackle the problem comprehensively. The FINS II Conference considered the relevance of Top 20 IAS issues (Top 10 threats and opportunities) for Europe determined at the 1st Freshwater Invasiveness – Networking for Strategy (FINS I) conference held in Ireland in 2013. Using a similar format of sequential group voting, threats from FINS I (lack of funding, of awareness and education; poor communication) and several new threats (lack of lead agencies, of standardized management and of common approach; insufficient monitoring and management on private property) were identified by 80 academics, applied scientists, policy makers and stakeholders from 14 EU and three non-EU countries (including 10 invited speakers) during four workshop break-out sessions (legislation remit in both EU/non-EU countries; best management and biosecurity practice for control; data management and early warning; pathways of introductions and citizen science). Identified opportunities include improved cooperation and communication, education and leadership to enhance public awareness and stakeholder participation, systems establishment for early detection, rapid response, monitoring and management of IAS using standardised methods of data collection, storage and usage. The sets of threats and opportunities identified underline the importance of international cooperation on IAS issues in communication, education and funding as priorities, as well as in standardization of legislation, control methods and best practise of research.

[1]  Stefan Schindler,et al.  Alien Pathogens on the Horizon: Opportunities for Predicting their Threat to Wildlife , 2017 .

[2]  Andrew M. Liebhold,et al.  Invasion Science: A Horizon Scan of Emerging Challenges and Opportunities. , 2017, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[3]  Katherine M. O'Donnell,et al.  The Arctic in the Twenty-First Century: Changing Biogeochemical Linkages across a Paraglacial Landscape of Greenland , 2016, Bioscience.

[4]  J. Olden,et al.  Global threats from invasive alien species in the twenty-first century and national response capacities , 2016, Nature Communications.

[5]  L. Vilizzi,et al.  The common carp Cyprinus carpio in Croatia (Danube and Adriatic basins): a historical review , 2016, Aquaculture International.

[6]  Helen E. Roy,et al.  INVASIVESNET towards an International Association for Open Knowledge on Invasive Alien Species ; INVASIVESNET naar een Internationale Associatie voor Open Kennis over Invasieve Exoten , 2016 .

[7]  G. Bonanno.  Alien species: to remove or not to remove? That is the question , 2016 .

[8]  P. Burkhardt-Holm,et al.  Improving invasive species management by integrating priorities and contributions of scientists and decision makers , 2016, Ambio.

[9]  S. Carpenter,et al.  Invasive species triggers a massive loss of ecosystem services through a trophic cascade , 2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[10]  P. Hulme.  Invasion pathways at a crossroad: policy and research challenges for managing alien species introductions , 2015 .

[11]  Wolfgang Nentwig,et al.  Invasive alien species - prioritising prevention efforts through horizon scanning , 2015 .

[12]  Piero Genovesi,et al.  EU adopts innovative legislation on invasive species: a step towards a global response to biological invasions? , 2015, Biological Invasions.

[13]  R. Leuven,et al.  Evaluating stakeholder awareness and involvement in risk prevention of aquatic invasive plant species by a national code of conduct. , 2014 .

[14]  P. Genovesi,et al.  Biological invaders are threats to human health: an overview , 2014 .

[15]  Lucy G. Anderson,et al.  Biosecurity and Vector Behaviour: Evaluating the Potential Threat Posed by Anglers and Canoeists as Pathways for the Spread of Invasive Non-Native Species and Pathogens , 2014, PloS one.

[16]  Helen E. Roy,et al.  Tackling Invasive Alien Species in Europe: the Top 20 Issues , 2014 .

[17]  M. Lehtiniemi,et al.  Ten recommendations for advancing the assessment and management of non-indigenous species in marine ecosystems , 2014 .

[18]  H. Lenders,et al.  Exploring Public Perception of Non-native Species from a Visions of Nature Perspective , 2013, Environmental Management.

[19]  Jason Lowe,et al.  Quantifying the benefit of early climate change mitigation in avoiding biodiversity loss , 2013 .

[20]  J. Britton,et al.  Understanding the Threats Posed by Non-Native Species: Public vs. Conservation Managers , 2013, PloS one.

[21]  Ivan Deriu,et al.  Building the European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN): a novel approach for the exploration of distributed alien species data , 2012 .

[22]  P. Hulme,et al.  Mixed messages from multiple information sources on invasive species: a case of too much of a good thing? , 2011 .

[23]  J. Britton,et al.  A modular assessment tool for managing introduced fishes according to risks of species and their populations, and impacts of management actions , 2011, Biological Invasions.

[24]  David N. Bonter,et al.  Citizen Science as an Ecological Research Tool: Challenges and Benefits , 2010 .

[25]  J. Britton,et al.  Current knowledge on non‐native freshwater fish introductions , 2010 .

[26]  D. Strayer.  Alien species in fresh waters: ecological effects, interactions with other stressors, and prospects for the future , 2010 .

[27]  H. Mooney,et al.  Invasive species, ecosystem services and human well-being. , 2009, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[28]  R. Cowling,et al.  One Hundred Questions of Importance to the Conservation of Global Biological Diversity , 2009, Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology.

[29]  J. Gonzalez,et al.  Social perceptions of the impacts and benefits of invasive alien species: Implications for management , 2008 .

[30]  Robert R Parmenter,et al.  The spread of invasive species and infectious disease as drivers of ecosystem change , 2008 .

[31]  Catherine S. Jarnevich,et al.  Vision of a Cyberinfrastructure for Nonnative, Invasive Species Management , 2008 .

[32]  R. Gozlan.  Introduction of non-native freshwater fish: is it all bad , 2008 .

[33]  Des B. A. Thompson,et al.  Future novel threats and opportunities facing UK biodiversity identified by horizon scanning , 2007 .

[34]  Kirsty J. Park,et al.  Public attitudes to the management of invasive non-native species in Scotland , 2007 .

[35]  S. Cunningham,et al.  Predicting the economic impact of an invasive species on an ecosystem service. , 2007, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[36]  R. Naiman,et al.  Freshwater biodiversity: importance, threats, status and conservation challenges , 2006, Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.

[37]  Lars J. Olson.  The Economics of Terrestrial Invasive Species: A Review of the Literature , 2006, Agricultural and Resource Economics Review.

[38]  R. Mcdonald,et al.  The Importance of Stakeholder Engagement in Invasive Species Management: A Cross-jurisdictional Perspective in Ireland , 2006, Biodiversity & Conservation.

[39]  G. Copp,et al.  Pathways of ornamental and aquarium fish introductions into urban ponds of Epping Forest (London, England): the human vector* , 2005 .

[40]  S. Sumer,et al.  A brief review of non‐native freshwater fishes in Slovenia , 2005 .

[41]  Maria Teresa Ferreira,et al.  To be, or not to be, a non‐native freshwater fish? , 2005 .

[42]  J. Cambray.  Impact on indigenous species biodiversity caused by the globalisation of alien recreational freshwater fisheries , 2003, Hydrobiologia.

[43]  C. Kolar,et al.  Ecological Predictions and Risk Assessment for Alien Fishes in North America , 2002, Science.

[44]  Mark Williamson,et al.  The Economics of Biological Invasions , 2002, Biodiversity & Conservation.

[45]  M. Soulé,et al.  Lag times in population explosions of invasive species: causes and implications , 1999 .

[46]  H. Mooney,et al.  Human Domination of Earth’s Ecosystems , 1997, Renewable Energy.

[47]  M. Williamson,et al.  The analysis and modelling of British invasions , 1986 .

[48]  Céline Bellard,et al.  Trans-national horizon scanning for invasive non-native species: a case study in western Europe , 2015, Biological Invasions.

[49]  Jarrett E. K. Byrnes,et al.  Linking Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Current Uncertainties and the Necessary Next Steps , 2014 .

[50]  Adriana Gamazo,et al.  EURYDICE (2013): Key data on teachers and school leaders in Europe. 2013 edition Eurydice report (Luxembourg Publications Office of the European Union) , 2013 .

[51]  R. Scalera.  How much is Europe spending on invasive alien species? , 2009, Biological Invasions.

[52]  Daniel Simberloff,et al.  We can eliminate invasions or live with them. Successful management projects , 2008, Biological Invasions.

[53]  David G. Delaney,et al.  Marine invasive species: validation of citizen science and implications for national monitoring networks , 2007, Biological Invasions.

[54]  P. Gehrke,et al.  Testing methods and ecological consequences of large-scale removal of common carp , 2005 .

[55]  Matthew J.W. Cock,et al.  Invasive alien species: a toolkit of best prevention and management practices , 2001 .