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

Invasive animals and plants are likely to arrive in the next decade

Date:  December 13, 2018

Source:  Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

Scientists have identified 66 alien plant and animal species, not yet established in the European Union, that pose the greatest potential threat to biodiversity and ecosystems in the region.

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 research, led by Professor Helen Roy of the UK's Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and involving 43 people from across Europe and funded by the European Commission, is published in the journal Global Change Biology.

The authors developed a horizon-scanning approach in order to derive a ranked list of potential invasive alien species (IAS). Using this procedure, they worked collaboratively to reach consensus about the alien species most likely to arrive, establish, spread and have an impact on biodiversity in the region over the next decade.

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 eight species that pose the highest risk are:

1. Channa argus. The northern snakehead is a species of fish native to southern and eastern China but now also widely distributed in Japan within shallow, marshy ponds and wetlands, where it preys on native fish species.

2. Limnoperna fortunei. The golden mussel is native to China and south-eastern Asia but became established in Hong Kong in 1965, and Japan and Taiwan in the 1990s. Subsequently, it invaded the United States and South America. It alters native fauna with an impact on the freshwater food web.

Read on