Distribution and densities of the invasive New Guinea flatworm (Tricladida: Geoplanidae) in forest conservation areas of the Miami Rock Ridge in Southeast Florida

<i>Myriophyllum heterophyllum</i> Michaux

The Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) is a global network of scientific and policy experts on invasive species, organized under the auspices of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). ISSG aims to reduce threats to natural ecosystems and the native species they contain by increasing awareness of invasive alien species, and of ways to prevent, control or eradicate them. Since its establishment, over two decades ago, ISSG has taken the lead on collating, managing and disseminating global invasive species information, promoting practitioner networks and supporting development of policy and regulation aimed at reducing the insidious threat of biological invasions. All this has been accomplished through the development of knowledge products (such as the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD)), promoting dynamic networks such as Aliens-L, advocacy and publications. ISSG has actively catered to emerging needs with activities directed at key areas such as islands, threatened species, protected areas and developing invasive species indicators to support prioritising and monitoring management action. ISSG is working with partners advancing the adoption of a standardised framework of pathway categories and developing criteria for the ranking of known invasive species based on the type and magnitude of impacts. ISSG through participation in the Global Invasive Alien Species Information Partnership (GIASIPartnership) is working with other information providers supporting countries with current and authoritative information to effectively implement Article 8(h), Aichi Biodiversity Target 9 and other related decisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and other Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) such as the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

AimTo use global databases to (1) provide a visualization of global geographical patterns of species invasions, origins and pathways and (2) depict the international uptake of legislative and policy responses to invasive alien species (IAS).LocationGlobal.MethodsPatterns of recorded species invasions and pathways of introduction were mapped and visualized using data from the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD) and the CABI Invasive Species Compendium (CABI ISC), along with associated legal instruments relevant to IAS compiled from the ECOLEX database. A novel indicator of the asymmetry between each country's ‘ingress/egress’ of IAS (kappa, Κ), was developed to further explore spatial patterns.ResultsSubstantial variation in the spatial patterns of invasion was determined, with the Global North, some newly industrialized countries and small tropical islands being the main recipients of IAS and asymmetry (Κ) being highest in New World countries and small islands. Of the 1517 recorded IAS, 39% were introduced only intentionally and 26% only unintentionally, 22% both intentionally and unintentionally, while 13% had no information available. The dominant pathway for species invasions was horticulture and the nursery trade, with 31% of the species introduced outside of their natural geographical range. Large increases in legislation on IAS have occurred since the 1990s, particularly for those countries that have high numbers of species invasions.Main conclusionsClear global patterns in the distributions of IAS are determined, supporting arguments emphasizing the role of colonial history, economic development and trade in driving the human‐mediated movement of species. Dominant pathways for species invasions are similar across different regions. Policy responses towards IAS show an increasing desire from the international community to act on species invasions. Current patterns suggest that Africa and Central Asia are priority areas for future IAS research and control.

A simple, rapid methodology for developing invasive species watch lists

Cardiospermum grandiflorum

Invasive species are the second most important reason for species extinction since 1500 ad. In addition, these invasive species can cause vast economic loss. In marine ecoregions, alien species introductions are increasing, and those that become invasive have caused profound changes in many marine ecoregions. We compiled a database consisting of information about where species are alien, where they are not, and which species are listed as threatened by invasive species. In addition, we developed an interactive Webapp for visualizing and analyzing the results. We used the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) for identifying the presence of a species in a marine ecoregion. Information from the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD), and the Nature Conservancy database on marine invasive species (NatCon) was used to identify the names and locations of marine alien species. Information from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List revealed which species are considered to be threatened by invasive species. Our database lists 112,399 marine species, of which 966 are alien species and 1655 are listed as threatened by invasive species by the IUCN. These are distributed throughout 225 marine ecoregions (97% of marine ecoregions). Our results confirm previous studies about the prevalence of alien and invasive species and provide an up‐to‐date status about known and recorded species and their distribution. This information can be used as a fundament for developing impact assessment models and identifying management strategies to combat marine invasive species.

Oceania is a diverse region encompassing Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, New Zealand, and Polynesia, and it contains six of the world's 39 hotspots of diversity. It has a poor record for extinctions, particularly for birds on islands and mammals. Major causes include habitat loss and degradation, invasive species, and overexploitation. We identified six major threatening processes (habitat loss and degradation, invasive species, climate change, overexploitation, pollution, and disease) based on a comprehensive review of the literature and for each developed a set of conservation policies. Many policies reflect the urgent need to deal with the effects of burgeoning human populations (expected to increase significantly in the region) on biodiversity. There is considerable difference in resources for conservation, including people and available scientific information, which are heavily biased toward more developed countries in Oceania. Most scientific publications analyzed for four threats (habitat loss, invasive species, overexploitation, and pollution) are from developed countries: 88.6% of Web of Science publications were from Australia (53.7%), New Zealand (24.3%), and Hawaiian Islands (10.5%). Many island states have limited resources or expertise. Even countries that do (e.g., Australia, New Zealand) have ongoing and emerging significant challenges, particularly with the interactive effects of climate change. Oceania will require the implementation of effective policies for conservation if the region's poor record on extinctions is not to continue.

Mangrove-associated bivalves in Southeast Asia: A review

Introduction pathways play a pivotal role in the success of Invasive Alien Species (IAS)—the subset of alien species that have a negative environmental and/or socio-economic impact. Pathways refer to the fundamental processes that leads to the introduction of a species from one geographical location to another—marking the beginning of all alien species invasions. Increased knowledge of pathways is essential to help reduce the number of introductions and impacts of IAS and ultimately improve their management. Here we use the InvaCost database, a comprehensive repository on the global monetary impacts of IAS, combined with pathway data classified using the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) hierarchical classification and compiled from CABI Invasive Species Compendium, the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD) and the published literature to address five key points. Data were available for 478 individual IAS. For these, we found that both the total and annual average cost per species introduced through the ‘Stowaway’ (US$144.9bn; US$89.4m) and ‘Contaminant’ pathways (US$99.3bn; US$158.0m) were higher than species introduced primarily through the ‘Escape’ (US$87.4bn; US$25.4m) and ‘Release’ pathways (US$64.2bn; US$16.4m). Second, the recorded costs (both total and average) of species introduced unintentionally was higher than that from species introduced intentionally. Third, insects and mammals, respectively, accounted for the greatest proportion of the total cost of species introduced unintentionally and intentionally respectively, at least of the available records; ‘Stowaway’ had the highest recorded costs in Asia, Central America, North America and Diverse/Unspecified regions. Fourthly, the total cost of a species in a given location is not related to the year of first record of introduction, but time gaps might blur the true pattern. Finally, the total and average cost of IAS were not related to their number of introduction pathways. Although our findings are directly limited by the available data, they provide important material which can contribute to pathway priority measures, notably by complementing studies on pathways associated with ecologically harmful IAS. They also highlight the crucial need to fill the remaining data gaps—something that will be critical in prioritising limited management budgets to combat the current acceleration of species invasions.

Crystal ball – 2009

This study examines the genetic data coverage and availability in the Barcode of Life Database (BOLD), versions 2.5 and 3.0, and GenBank for the 88 invasive insects listed in the Global Invasive Species Database (http://www.issg.org). No data are recorded in either BOLD or GenBank for seven of those species. As a dedicated repository of curated barcode data BOLD is either missing data or contains inaccessible private data for 37 (42%) of the species while no data are available in GenBank for nine (8%) of the species. An evaluation of the Barcode Identification Number (BIN) scheme in BOLD ver. 3.0 was also evaluated and in 41% of cases the BIN contained more than one species. This essentially arose due to the 1% delimitation thresholds associated with the BINs and would result in misidentifications. Overall, more information is available from GenBank for the 88 invasive species listed on the Global Invasive Species Database, but quality checking is required to ensure that the data extracted from GenBank are of sufficient quality to make it useful. The implications of these results are discussed, with investment in parallel data silos suggested to be both costly and potentially an inefficient use of resources that may lead to loss of data if the means needed to maintain these databases become unavailable.

The Malacca Strait is Indonesia’s most strategic traffic lane to support ship logistics activities. Ships with ballast water transfer systems can raise water quality issues, distribute foreign microorganisms, or introduce invasive species globally. Phylum Cnidaria has a strong potential to invade waters because all species in this phylum have nematocysts that function to penetrate toxins. This study aimed to determine oceanographic conditions and identify invasive species in the phylum Cnidaria based on eDNA approaches in the waters of the Rupat Strait and Kuala Tanjung Port. Sample identification found 114 species of Cnidaria at Dumai Port and 112 species at Kuala Tanjung Port. Fertility waters were detected to have mesotrophic status at Dumai Port and Eutrophic at Kuala Tanjung Port. Based on the Global invasive species database, we found Ectopleura crocea and Pelagia noctiluca, native to the Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean. Environment parameter conditions support the existence of invasive species in both study sites.

It is widely known that disturbed areas favour plant species invasion. However, the presence and impacts of introduced plants at rubbish dumps and landfills are less clear. We conducted a literature review to evaluate current knowledge on introduced plants species at these sites to assess their potential role as invasion epicentres. Most of the studies we found (91%) were observational and only described plant species presence in multiple landscapes, including rubbish dumps or landfills. A minority of studies ( 95%) and included in the Global Invasive Species Database or the DAISIE list. One species, Arundo donax, is among the 100 worst invasive species in the world and eight more are listed among the 100 worst invasive species in Europe. Invasive species present at these sites may alter fire regimens, produce toxic and allergen effects, outcompete native species, act as agricultural pests, and lead to economic losses. Our results are a first step to include rubbish dumps and landfills in the agenda of ecologists and managers that study invasive species, especially since compost from these sites are now being used in agricultural practices, thus possibly spreading invasive species propagules to distant locations.

A list of 688 fruit taxa that was downloaded on 18 June 2020 from GRIN-global for World Economic Plants in the database for the query: family = 'all families' & native country = 'all countries' & economic uses: Human food = ''as fruit'. Plant names were standardized via the WorldFlora package (version 1.6; Kindt 2020) with the World Flora Online Taxonomic Backbone version 2019.05. A species list was created from the genus and species names of the matched taxonomic name. From this list, a list of 404 fruit tree species that was derived by matching species names with the GlobalTreeSearch (GTS) database (version 1.3; Beech et al. 2017). Continents where species are native follow the World Geographic Scheme of Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD). Countries listed in GTS were matched with continents of the WGSRPD by using country-continent allocations available from Kindt 2020. Listing in USDA Food Composition Databases and Global Invasive Species Database were obtained from the Agroforestry Species Switchboard. Listing in FAO crop statistics was inferred from World Yield Data for 2018, downloaded in March 2020.

Determining composition and structure of ant communities may help understand how niche opportunities become available for invasive ant species and ultimately how communities are invaded. This study examined composition and structure of an ant community from a tropical rain forest in Fiji, specifically looking at spatial partitioning and presence of invasive ant species. A total of 27 species was collected, including five invasive species. Spatial partitioning between arboreal (foliage beating) and litter (quadrat) samples was evident with a relatively low species overlap and a different composition of ant genera. Composition and abundance of ants was also significantly different between litter and arboreal microhabitats at baits, but not at different bait types (oil, sugar, tuna). In terms of invasive ant species, there was no difference in number of invasive species between canopy and litter. However, the most common species, Paratrechina vaga, was significantly less abundant and less frequently collected in the canopy. In arboreal samples, invasive species were significantly smaller than endemic species, which may have provided an opportunity for invasive species to become established. However, taxonomic disharmony (missing elements in the fauna) could also play an important role in success of invasive ant species across the Pacific region. Invasive ants represent a serious threat to biodiversity in Fiji and on many other Pacific islands. A greater understanding of habitat susceptibility and mechanisms for invasion may help mitigate their impacts.