Alien Species In Europe Research Articles

How much is Europe spending on invasive alien species?

Over the last 15 years, despite the lack of a specific strategy or a dedicated financial instrument to deal with invasive alien species (IAS), the European Commission (EC) has contributed to financing almost 300 projects addressing this issue, for a total budget exceeding 132 million EUR. Such figures are based on projects funded under two specific EU financial tools: LIFE and the RTD Framework Programmes. The contribution of the two programmes has been characterised by an overall positive trend over the years, in terms of both the number of projects and the budget spent. Such trend can be assumed to reflect an overall increase in both the awareness of the problem among wildlife managers and scientific institutions, and the willingness to pay by the EC institutions and the EU citizens in general. Such data might contribute to the development of a response indicator measuring ‘Trends in invasive alien species in Europe’, useful to assess progress toward the target of halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010—as a part of the SEBI 2010 process. The results may also contribute to assess the economic impact of IAS in Europe—in terms of costs for reduction and/or prevention of damages—and to support policy decisions and communication campaigns. Finally, the results are encouraging and support the need for the development and the implementation of a sound EU strategy on IAS, so as to regulate and optimise the administration of the available financial resources—whenever appropriate—on the basis of specific priorities.

The marine splash midge Telmatogon japonicus (Diptera; Chironomidae)—extreme and alien?

We found all developmental stages of the midge Telmatogeton japonicus (Chironomidae) on offshore windmills near the major Swedish seaport Kalmar in the southern Baltic Sea. This might be the first record of an insect species really inhabiting the offshore areas of the Baltic Sea. A thorough analysis of previous findings of the species, its history in Europe and its ecology indicates that T. japonicus quite likely is an alien species in Europe introduced from the Pacific Ocean. Shipping is probably the vector, as all records in the Baltic Sea and several from the Eastern Atlantic Sea are near major seaports. Our analysis further suggests that T. japonicus might be both advantageous and disadvantageous to native species in the Baltic Sea. T. japonicus should be kept under observation within monitoring programmes as it might expand its distribution as a result of the construction of new windmills in the Baltic Sea and elsewhere in European marine and brackish water habitats.

How can alien species inventories and interception data help us prevent insect invasions?

Information relevant to invasion processes and invasive alien insect species management in Central Europe was extracted from two databases: a compilation of two inventories of alien insects in Austria and Switzerland, and a list of interceptions of non-indigenous plant pests in Europe gathered by the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation (EPPO) for the period 1995-2004. For one-third of the insects established in Switzerland and Austria, the region of origin is unclear. Others come mainly from North America, Asia and the Mediterranean region. Among the intercepted insects, 40% were associated with commodities from Asia, 32% from Europe and only 2% from North America. Sternorrhyncha, Coleoptera and Psocoptera were particularly well represented in the alien fauna compared to the native fauna. In the interception database, Sternorrhyncha were also well represented but Diptera accounted for the highest number of records. Sap feeders and detritivores were the dominant feeding niches in the alien insect fauna. In contrast, external defoliators, stem borers, gall makers, root feeders, predators and parasitoids were underrepresented. Nearly 40% of the alien insects in Switzerland and Austria live only indoors. Another 15% live outdoors but exclusively or predominantly on exotic plants. Less than 20% are found mainly in 'natural' environments. The majority of introductions of alien insects in Europe are associated with the international trade in ornamental plants. An economic impact was found for 40% of the alien insects in Switzerland and Austria, whereas none is known to have an ecological impact. The implications of these observations for further studies and the management of alien species in Europe are discussed.

Quality traits of Procambarus clarkii (girard) related to sex and refrigerated storage

The red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii, Girard) is the most widespread alien species in Europe. Imported from Louisiana to southern Spain in 1973, where at present it is reared in crayfish farm and also diffused in the wild, it was introduced into Italy in the ’80s and is now well established in natural environments of northern and central Italy. Naturalization of this alien species poses risks for aquatic ecosystems and its use as food may be a way to limit its spreading. The aim of this study was to analyse the morphological, mercantile and biochemical characteristics of male and female specimens of Procambarus clarkii and to evaluate changes in qualitative traits during refrigerated storage. Specimens of red swamp crayfish collected in a river, after a rearing period of 85 days in tanks, were harvested, killed by hypothermia and refrigerated (1°C). Male (n=31) and female (n=26) specimens were separated and measured for total body and abdomen length, 1 (n=10), 3 (n=16), 8 (n=16) and 10 days (n=15) after harvesting. They were weighed, sectioned to separate claws and tails (shell-on), which were weighed individually and their colour parameters (lightness, L*; chromaticity indexes, a* and b*) measured in dorsal and ventral sites. A pooled sample consisting of tail muscle of 2-3 specimens having the same storage times was homogenized and analysed for total lipids, qualitative and quantitative fatty acid composition and malondialdehyde (MDA). The other tails (shell-on) were steamed, the exoskeleton removed and abdominal muscles (shell-off tails) analysed for colour parameters in dorsal and ventral sites, and for free water (by compression method). Data was analysed by GLM using the SAS Package, with sex, storage time and relative interaction (except for data of chemical analysis) as fixed effects. Females and males differed in total (p<0.05) and abdominal (p<0.01) length (8.65 vs 8.27cm and 4.32 vs 4.04cm, respectively) and in body weight (corrected for cheliped weight, due their lack in some cases; 16.35 vs 13.89g; p<0.05), however the cooked-meat yield of shell-on tails was similar (46.53 vs 42.93%; p=0.19). Regarding colour parameters, the two sexes only differed in L*, which was significantly greater in males in the different sites of measurement, except the ventral site of raw shell-on tails. Males and females showed a similar water holding capacity of abdominal meat (mean 10.78±6.33cm2). No differences between the sexes were recorded for total lipids (mean 1.05±0.14%), MDA content and fatty acid profile (means SFA: 22.16%, MUFA: 28.40%, PUFAn6: 20.39%; PUFAn3: 28.80%; EPA: 18.24%; DHA: 7.17%). During refrigerated storage, a significant decrease in water holding capacity of muscle (free water increasing from 14.07 to 26.15cm2 on days 1 and 10, respectively; p<0.001) and in cooked-meat yield (from 50.92 to 39.11% on days 1 and 10, respectively; p<0.01) and sharp changes in cooked tail muscle colour parameters were noticed. The latter body part showed a significant decrease (p<0.001) in a* and b* at the dorsal site and in L* at the ventral site (77.74 and 49.14 on days 1 and 10, respectively) with increasing storage. During the refrigerated storage of the whole crayfish the changes recorded for the examined parameters indicate the quality decay, particularly after the 3rd day.

Eradications of invasive alien species in Europe: a review

Eradication of alien species is a key conservation tool to mitigate the impacts caused by biologic invasions. The aim of the present paper is to review the eradications successfully completed in Europe and to discuss the main limits to a wider application of this management option in the region. On the basis of the available literature – including conference proceedings, national reports to the Bern Convention, etc. – a total of 37 eradication programmes have been recorded. Thirty-three eradications were carried out on islands and four on the mainland. The rat (Rattus spp.) has been the most common target (n = 25, 67%), followed by the rabbit (n = 4). In many cases, these eradications determined a significant recovery of native biodiversity. Differently to other regions of the world, no eradications of alien invertebrates and marine organisms have been recorded; regarding invasive alien plants, it appears that only some very localized removals have been completed so far in Europe. The limited number of eradications carried out in Europe so far is probably due to the limited awareness of the public and the decision makers, the inadequacy of the legal framework, and the scarcity of resources. Synthetic guidelines for improving the ability of European states to respond to aliens incursions are presented.