DAISIE and arthropod invasions in Europe

Abstract

A milestone in the knowledge of alien species in Europe has been achieved by the DAISIE (Delivering Alien Invasive Species Inventories for Europe) project. Th rough the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Union, DAISIE has delivered a major portal for information on biological invasions that is publicly available at http://www. europe-aliens.org. Th e rationale was to develop a pan-European inventory of invasive alien species by integrating existing databases, to describe patterns and evaluate trends in biological invasions in Europe, identify priority species and assess their ecological, economic and health risks and impacts. Although an on-going process, the foundation, scope, and technological architecture of DAISIE was established through a consortium of leading researchers of biological invasions in Europe from 19 institutions across 15 countries and delivered through the cooperation of experts in ecology and taxonomy from throughout Europe that in total amounted to 182 contributors. Th e inventory, accounts, and distribution maps today provide the fi rst qualifi ed reference system on invasive alien species for the European region. Th e information presents an outstanding resource to synthesise current knowledge and trends in biological invasions in Europe. Th e data will help identify the scale and spatial pattern of invasive alien species in Europe, understand the environmental, social, economic and other factors involved in invasions, and can be used as a framework for considering indicators for early warning. A key component of DAISIE is Th e European Alien Species Database, an inventory of all alien species in Europe, and resulted from compiling and peer-reviewing national and regional lists of alien fungi, bryophytes, vascular plants, invertebrates, fi sh, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Data were collated for all 27 European Union member states (and separately for their signifi cant island regions), other European states (Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Monaco, Norway, the European BioRisk 4(1): 1–3 (2010)