Overseas Territories Research Articles

Emergence and evolution of the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant in the island of Martinique

IntroductionWe aimed to describe the epidemiological situation during the Omicron variant circulation in light of genomic surveillance data in Martinique, a territory with low vaccination rates. Patients and methodsWe exploited COVID-19 national databases of virological tests, for the collection of hospital data and for the sequencing data from December 13, 2021 to July 11, 2022. ResultsThree prevailing sub-lineages of Omicron have been identified in Martinique (BA.1, BA.2, BA.5) during this period causing three distinct waves characterized by an increase in virological indicators compared to previous waves, with moderate severity in the first and last waves, caused by BA.1 and BA.5, respectively. ConclusionThe SARS-CoV-2 outbreak is still progressing in Martinique. Genomic surveillance system in this overseas territory must be continued for rapid detection of emerging variants/sub-lineages.

Fossil detectives: How the 2022 noble prize winners unearthed the journey of human evolution

What do scraps of bones discovered in a deserted Siberian Cave in Russia have to do with us? Or how do a few fragments of teeth in Gibraltar, an isolated British overseas territory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, have to do with the genetic legacy of today’s living people across Asia? Well, it seems that about 40,000 years back, we humans were not the only inhabiting hominids on this planet Earth; we had other mysterious cousins, at least two of them known so far, who had left enough evidence and trails of DNA for the scientist to ponder. Like crime cases that run cold due to lack of solid evidence, paleontologists often tumble when encountering roadblocks; until Swedish Geneticists Svante Pääbo painstakingly developed the necessary tools and techniques to trace back our origin, 15000 years back when perhaps the three hominids even crisscrossed each other’s path. The Desonovians, the Nearthandals, and the modern-day humans. The two ancestors of humans perhaps arose from a common origin several thousand years back. We now know that the Desinovinans diverged from their close relatives, the Neanderthals, around 400,000 years ago, while they both diverged from modern Homo sapiens around 800,000 years ago. The Neanderthals were populated in Europe and Asia, while the more elusive Desonovians were restricted to Siberia, in regions of eastern and southern Eurasia. Genomic homology studies revealed that the Denisova’s mitochondrial DNA differs from that of modern humans by 385 bases, whereas the difference with Neanderthals is around 202 bases. These numbers stand out from the difference between chimpanzees and modern humans, approximately 1462 base pairs. It is now conclusively known that sometimes in prehistoric times, there had been an event of DNA mixing between the Denisovans and modern humans, an event of actual sexual mating. The percentage of Denisovan DNA is highest in the Melanesian population (Melanesians are the indigenous inhabitants of Melanesia, from New Guinea to the Fiji Islands), lower in other Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander populations, with hardly any DNA detectable in other populations in the world. What is enigmatic is how this human cousin got extinct. Possibly a competition for resources was likely one reason the Denisovans went extinct. The evolutionary trajectory of the Nearthandals followed a different route. At least, two different groups of Neanderthals who lived in Southern Siberia seem to have migrated from Eastern Europe. Not only that, just that Denisovans also interbred with modern-day humans. This interesting phenomenon is called Introgression. It explains why modern-day humans have some Neanderthal DNA, roughly about 3%. Human ancestors only lived in Africa until they decided to migrate to Europe some 45,000 years ago. It’s there where they encountered its other ancestors, the Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis). Eventually, they mated and produced offspring resulting in Introgression. Since this mating event happened outside Africa, present-day African people have no traces of Neanderthal DNA. However, due to interesting adaptive advantages, modern-day humans (outside Africa) still retained 3% of Neanderthal DNA, a spectacular observation even 40,000 years after they might have last mated. This is called adaptive Introgression. This is also where Darwin’s principles of natural selection come in. Retaining the 3% Neanderthals might serve some advantage to Modern Humans for better adaptations, something that the sickle mutated DNA at one allele (heterozygous) got positively adapted in Africa due to its protective effect against the malarial parasite in malariaendemic areas. Things can get even interesting and weird with the findings that hybrid individuals were discovered who carried both the Denisovan as well as Neanderthal DNA. That’s what the team, led by palaeogeneticists Slon et al., reported in Nature. Named as “Denny,” thischild seems to be born from a Neanderthal mother and a Desinovan dad, some 90,000 years back. Denny seems to be born out of mating of two extinct hominid ancestors, acquiring one set of chromosomes from a Neanderthal and the other from a Denisovan. Shaped by evolution and driven by its migratory nature, present-day human is the cumulative outcome of thousands of years of man’s struggle for its survival. Driven by the changing environmental its migration journey picked with it traces of DNA from its ancestral cousins that it encountered. Meticulous investigation of this apparently insignificant DNA holds the secret of thousands of years of human history and human migration. Relentless efforts by Prof Svante Pääbo and other researchers have shed light on our ancestral autobiography.

Species diversity and distribution of the calcareous green macroalgae Halimeda in Taiwan, Spratly Island, and Dongsha Atoll, with the proposal of Halimeda taiwanensis sp. nov.

The calcified green algal genus Halimeda is one of the most ecologically important but morphologically diverse seaweeds in sub-tropical and tropical waters. Because of its high morphological plasticity, the identification of Halimeda species based on morphological characters is challenging without the assistance of molecular analysis. To date, the species diversity of Halimeda in Taiwan and its overseas territories has not been investigated with the assistance of DNA sequencing, and this taxonomic knowledge gap should be filled. The present study initiates a systematic examination of the species diversity and distribution of Halimeda in Taiwan, Spratly Island, and Dongsha Atoll in the South China Sea, using DNA sequence data (plastid tufA gene and rbcL) and morphological data. Our DNA analyses revealed the presence of 10 Halimeda species (Halimeda borneensis, Halimeda cylindracea, Halimeda discoidea, Halimeda distorta, Halimeda macroloba, Halimeda minima, Halimeda opuntia, Halimeda renschii, Halimeda taiwanensis sp. nov., and Halimeda velasquezii) in the waters around Taiwan, Spratly Island, and Dongsha Atoll. The majority of the species could be readily distinguished by their morphological and anatomical characters. The proposed new species, H. taiwanensis, was differentiated not only by our algorithmic species delimitation analyses (statistical parsimony network analysis and automated barcode gap discovery), but also by its morphological features. The proposed new species differs from two externally resembled species, H. cuneata and H. discoidea, in having an undulated segment margin, the complete fusion of medullary siphons at the node, the lack of segment stalk, and the presence of a large primary utricle. Here, we present the up-to-date taxonomic account, molecular diversity, and geographical distribution of Halimeda spp. in Taiwan and associated areas of the South China Sea. Environmental factors that might drive the occurrence and latitudinal distribution of the species are also discussed.

Novel Species of Brucella Causing Human Brucellosis, French Guiana.

Human brucellosis is a zoonoses caused by bacteria of the genus Brucella. Infection results in subacute or chronic debilitating disease with nonspecific clinical manifestations and is often associated with consuming unpasteurized dairy products. We report 2 cases of brucellosis in male patients who were hospitalized in distinct towns of French Guiana, an overseas territory of France located on the northeastern shore of South America. Both men were citizens of Brazil working as clandestine goldminers in the deep Amazonian rainforest. Characterization of the 2 bacterial isolates revealed that they represent a potential new species of Brucella. Medical practitioners working in contact with wildlife in this region of the world should be aware of the existence of these pathogens and the potential for human infection.

REVOLUTION AND COUNTERREVOLUTION IN SPAIN AND IN SPANISH AMERICA. RIEGO’S FAILURE AND THE LIBERAL TRIENNIUM (1820-1823)

The liberal triennium is presented as a crossroads in the History of Spain and in much of America. A crossroads where the trajectories of the European and American continents converge. In these years, respect for the freedoms of the citizens was demanded. The right to freedom under the law, freedom of opinion and association, freedom of political action and choice. These movements have a predominantly liberal and nationalist political-social character. The different national projects of the overseas territories have an explanation and the possibility of building a liberal regime on the Peninsula under the protection of the Constitution of Cádiz depart for the future. Rafael de Riego's coup against Ferdinand VII of Spain, was one more in the long chain of those that took place in the period 1814-1820. Majority of then failed but Riego finally achieved the objective. The liberal faction reached the power to carry out a series of political, social and economic changes from an ideological base opposed to that of the Old Regime. The French invasion took place, which came to reestablish the absolutism, Riego led the resistance in Andalusia at 1823 but he was defeated, captured and executed. Riego’s dream disappeared.

Pre-assessments of plant conservation status in islands: the case of French Overseas Territories

Assessment methods have been developed to estimate a preliminary conservation status for species and subsequently to facilitate the building of Red Lists. Such pre-assessment methods could be particularly useful in the French Overseas Territories (FOTs) where Red Lists tend to be out-dated or absent and where a high number of endemic species face detrimental anthropogenic pressures. We first aimed to conduct a preliminary assessment (hereafter, pre-assessment) of the conservation status of endemic plants from Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, Mayotte, French sub-Antarctic islands, New Caledonia, and Scattered Islands. We then compared the various methods used in conducting the pre-assessment and discussed ways to adapt these methods to small territories. We compiled occurrence data of endemic species identified thanks to a previous taxonomic work and pre-assessed their conservation status under Red List criteria A and B and the use of a Random Forest algorithm. We then measured the accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity of each method based on existing Red Lists. The Random Forest algorithm and a method based on range-size performed best at correctly attributing conservation status. Using these pre-assessment methods, we estimated that up to 60% of the endemic flora of the FOTs is potentially threatened. Range restriction but also anthropogenic pressures were key factors that explained these risks. Pre-assessment methods are useful tools to get a first measure of species conservation status. These methods should be adapted to the territories considered and their conservation issues in order to reach a good performance.

Separate but equal in the protection against climate change? The legal framework of climate justice for the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of The Netherlands

AbstractThe experiences of overseas territories and how their varying degrees of self‐governance influence climate (in)action are overlooked topics, even though these places are often highly impacted by climate change. Analysing the situation of the Dutch Kingdom demonstrates some of these challenges. The Kingdom consists of the European Netherlands and the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Curacao, St Maarten, Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba. Out of these, the Caribbean islands are the most vulnerable to climate change, while the European Netherlands has contributed the most to it. This can be seen as climate injustice. Access to mitigation and adaptation mechanisms mentioned in international agreements could be beneficial to these Caribbean islands. However, the international climate change agreements have only entered into force for the European part of the Kingdom and not the Caribbean part due to a territorial limitation. This has several consequences, and this paper highlights two. First, the requirement that greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced does not apply to the islands, which leaves room for unsustainable activities but also overlooks their need for adaptation and compensation for loss and damage. Second, access to climate finance instruments is limited as the Dutch Caribbean islands are seen as part of the Kingdom and therefore do not qualify for international assistance. Within the European Union, funds are available but access to these is not guaranteed, as the experience with recovery after Hurricane Irma demonstrates. These examples show that the issues around climate justice have been insufficiently resolved. There is a need for a long‐term climate strategy within the Kingdom along with complementary funding. Until then, climate litigation could assist in enforcing a duty of care by local governments and the Kingdom to protect inhabitants by using the human rights framework. This would also create a roadmap for other territories in similar circumstances.

Olaparib First-Line Maintenance Monotherapy in BRCA-Mutated Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: Descriptive Analysis of the First French Real-World Data Study.

Olaparib, a poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor, was approved by the European Commission in June 2019, following the results of the SOLO-1/GOG 3004 trial as maintenance monotherapy in adult patients with BRCA-mutated epithelial ovarian cancer. This study aimed to provide a descriptive analysis of the first real-world data from patients with BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer who received olaparib as first-line maintenance monotherapy in the French cohort Temporary Authorisation for Use (Autorisation Temporaire d'Utilisation de cohorte, ATUc) programme from 11 March, 2019 to 16 January, 2020. Eligible patients were aged 18 years and over with confirmed epithelial ovarian, primary peritoneal or Fallopian tube cancer and a deleterious or suspected deleterious germline or somatic BRCA 1/2 mutation. Patients were in complete or partial clinical response at the end of first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. Olaparib maintenance therapy was initiated within 8 weeks of the patients' last dose of chemotherapy. Real-world data were collected through treatment access request forms completed by physicians. Clinical and safety data were collected monthly until the end of the ATUc programme. A total of 107 centres in metropolitan France and the French Overseas Departments and Territories requested the inclusion for 238 patients, of whom 194 received maintenance olaparib. In total, 87.6% of the primary tumour locations were ovary, the most common histology was high-grade serous (93.0%) and the most common International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (Fédération Internationale de Gynécologie et d'Obstétrique) stage was IIIC (56.8%). BRCA testing was performed in routine practice, prior to inclusion into the ATUc programme. All patients had a BRCA mutation: 52.5% had a somatic mutation, 38.4% had a germinal mutation and 9.1% had germinal and somatic mutations. Twenty-four (12%) patients experienced serious adverse drug reactions at the last safety follow-up (17 February, 2020). The most common were anaemia (12 [6%] patients), neutropenia (3 [2%] patients) and thrombocytopenia (3 [2%] patients). The rapid enrolment into the ATUc programme highlighted the strong unmet need for patients with ovarian cancer and a BRCA mutation in first-line maintenance treatment. Olaparib was well tolerated and no new safety signals were observed in this real-world patient population.

The Resilience of the Multirelational Structure of Geopolitical Treaties is Critically Linked to Past Colonial World Order and Offshore Fiscal Havens

The governance of the political and economic world order builds on a complex architecture of international treaties at various geographical scales. In a historical phase of high institutional turbulence, assessing the stability of such architecture with respect to the unilateral defection of single countries and the breakdown of single treaties is important. We carry out this analysis on the whole global architecture and find that the countries with the highest disruption potential are mostly medium-small and micro countries. Political stability is highly dependent on many former colonial overseas territories that are today part of the global network of fiscal havens, as well as on emerging economies, mostly from South-East Asia. Economic stability depends on medium-sized European and African countries. Single global treaties have surprisingly less disruptive potential, with the major exception of the WTO. Our results suggest that the potential fragility of the world order seems to be more directly related to global inequality and fiscal injustice than commonly believed and that the legacy of the colonial world order is still strong in the current international relations scenario. In particular, vested interests related to tax avoidance seem to have a structural role in the political architecture of global governance.

Corruption and the constitutional position of the Overseas Territories

ABSTRACT The report of the recent Commission of Inquiry into possible corruption in the British Virgin Islands exemplifies a number of themes present in previous reports relating to other Overseas Territories. This article considers the question of corruption in the Overseas Territories in the context of the constitutional relationship between the Territories and the United Kingdom, considering the extent to which the UK is responsible for addressing the question and whether it might bear some responsibility for the existence of such corruption in the first place.

Investigatory Powers and the Overseas Territories

Investigatory Powers and the Overseas Territories

Belgium: a History of African Exploration

In the late 19th — early 20th centuries, the European states paid special attention to the African continent, which for many was then terra incognita, despite geographical discoveries and scientific information available. The rumors that spread in Europe about barbaric tribes, cannibals and wild animals frightened and repelled ordinary people. However, businessmen and merchants saw enormous benefits in the acquisition of colonies. The distant continent promised them fabulous profits from colonial goods, raw materials for new industry and cheap labor. In addition, having overseas territories was prestigious for European states and became a symbol of national pride. “At the beginning of the 20th century, white Europe was the recognized as the master of the world, and white people were almost universally considered as rulers for which the rest of the world exists” — this is how the British writer, Africanist Winston Dubois saw Europe. New approaches in the foreign policy of European states have become characteristic not only for England and France, who were the “pioneers” of colonial conquests, but also for the little Belgium. The cunning and enterprising Belgian king Leopold II, having circumvented England and France, which competed for success on the Black continent, thanks to numerous manipulations in the business and political sphere, was able to secure for himself huge “ownerless” territories in the center of Africa, which later transformed into three states. These are the modern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi.

Военно-политическая стратегия Франции в ИТР после создания AUKUS

This article explores the key developments of the French Indo-Pacific strategy in the aftermath of the “submarine deal” and the creation of AUKUS in September 2021. For many observers, the misunderstanding with Australia and the United States seemed to be a real turning point in regional policy, due to which the previous partnerships should be inevitably recalibrated. Yet, as numerous examples show, Paris’ response is quite limited after all. Firstly, the article summarizes French efforts to turn the page on the “submarine deal” by restoring the dialogue with Anglo-Saxon powers. In this respect, the emphasis is made on Emmanuel Macron’s meetings with new prime ministers of the United Kingdom and Australia as well as on his steps towards transatlantic solidarity with Washington (not without new disagreements on the Taiwan issue, however). Secondly, several multi- and minilateral activities of French diplomacy are analyzed, such as the EU-Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum held for the first time in Paris, 2022, or the president’s participation in the APEC summit in Thailand. It is noteworthy that France tries to find the second chance for its “Indo-Pacific axis” involving the UAE instead of Canberra and keeping in touch with India. Thirdly, the article defines that key weaknesses of the French regional strategy are the same as before September 2021. In particular, it still implies a certain ambiguity because the discourse on the “third way” and unwillingness to be a part of U.S.-China confrontation is followed by an indisputable affiliation of France to the collective West. French diplomatic activity is poorly supported by military capabilities given small contingents at overseas territories with mostly outdated weapons. The conclusion is that the AUKUS factor did not change France’s policy in the Indo-Pacific dramatically anyway; moreover, the continuity is likely to prevail for a few more years.

"Battlefield and Classroom": Indigenous Student-Soldiers and US Imperialism in the Carlisle Indian School Press

ABSTRACT: The late nineteenth and early twentieth century saw the beginnings of US empire abroad and simultaneously the crystallization of the US assimilation era at home. While off-reservation Native American boarding schools like the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (1879–1918) developed national recognition, the US began to acquire overseas territories in Cuba, Hawai'i, Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico. Students at schools like Carlisle produced white-edited, school-controlled periodicals like the Indian Helper , the Red Man and Helper , the Arrow , and the Carlisle Arrow . Reading Carlisle's periodicals, this essay traces the experiences of thirty-eight Carlisle students who enlisted in the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars and wrote about their experiences across the US's new empire. Although such periodicals have long been read as colonial documents, these newspapers, newsletters, and magazines nevertheless offer insights into Native students' writing and Native soldiers' voices at war, including their impressions of—and, sometimes, identification with—Filipinos, Puerto Ricans, and Native Hawaiians. Carlisle's administrators often used student-soldiers' reprinted letters to demonstrate successful assimilation which promised to transform Native peoples into patriotic US soldiers. These new "war correspondents" could then provide first-hand accounts of some of the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars most famous battles. Although largely meant to legitimate assimilative education systems, reprinted letters by Native student-soldiers often detail their everyday lives at war, including interactions with other Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities overseas. This essay ultimately argues for more generous readings of Native voices in these otherwise heavily censored letters. Despite their framing in the periodicals as willing agents of US empire, these reprinted letters by Native students underscore how the US military was likewise a site of trans-Indigenous exchange that provided the material circumstances for connection and solidarity.

Absent presence: Mourning the Queen on Gibraltar National Day

What does it mean to declare loyalty to the Crown? This article explores the politics of loyalty and the potency of monarchy's set‐apart quality. It does so from the vantage point of Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory the Queen had not visited since 1954 as the British government sought to avoid reigniting tensions with Spain. However, under the conditions of this absent presence, a particularly intense form of loyalty has emerged in Gibraltarians’ articulation of their relationship with their Queen. Against the ethnographic foreground of the cancellation of Gibraltar National Day events in the wake of the Queen's death, I explore how the mourning process demonstrates an intimacy that also enacts specific political intentionality.

Front and Back Covers, Volume 38, Number 6. December 2022

Front and back cover caption, volume 38 issue 6MOURNING THE QUEENThe death of Queen Elizabeth II left a potent absence, not only in the United Kingdom but also in the 14 other Commonwealth realms and fourteen British Overseas Territories of which she was head of state.From Hocart to Graeber and Sahlins, anthropological theories of kingship have drawn attention to the significance of separation from royalty. Social distance grants a sacred quality to the Crown, conferring on it a transcendental power, but one can abstract it so far from everyday life that it becomes an irrelevance.The long reign of Elizabeth meant that she was an everyday presence intimately engrained in the lives of a mass of people while nevertheless maintaining this social distance. Following her death, the ritualization of people queuing to pay their respects, and the mass observation of the transportation of her coffin laid out with the symbols of state, showed this absent presence at its most intense.In this issue, Richard Irvine gives an ethnographic account of the cancellation of National Day celebrations and political events in Gibraltar in the wake of the Queen's death – a particularly poignant mourning, given the sense of separation from a queen who was prevented from visiting Gibraltar for over half a decade for fear of poisoning Britain's diplomatic relations with Spain.What does it mean to express loyalty to the Crown? Here, the Queen's absent presence seems to make possible a form of intentional political identity and self‐determination, allowing Gibraltarians to declare Britishness on their own terms.SMASHED TABERNACLEThe celebrated modernist architectural ruin, St Peter's, Cardross in Scotland, was built as a seminary for priests in the mid‐1960s, a time of optimism for the minority Catholic population. It was completed just as the Second Vatican Council changed the regime of preparation for the priesthood, in place since the Counter‐Reformation. The building's simple, yet radically modern design reflected the architects' interpretation of the older rule of St Benedict.The chiefly Irish working‐class Catholic population underwent profound changes throughout the following decades, becoming more secular and seeking integration into mainstream, predominantly Scottish society. The heavy industries that characterized central Scotland experienced a decline, and a pernicious drug culture haunted working‐class communities.Meanwhile, the building's dereliction mirrored the decline of the faith and optimism of the Scottish Catholic community. Its uncompromising modernity was its downfall. It did not work, leaked throughout and was impossible to live and work in. Its staff was riven with factions, could not afford its upkeep and could not demolish it because of a preservation order. The Catholic Church priesthood was also on the threshold of a sexual predation crisis. Scholarship indicates that this culture had its roots in the seminary as an institution.Dominic Martin, seeking to understand the phenomenon of ‘emptiness’, reflects on the emblematic trajectory of this remarkable building and the mythopoetic insight it provides into the absent future of the Scottish Catholic experience. His analysis draws upon the classic anthropological theory of ritual and recent political and philosophical writing. He concludes by chronicling the unexpected transfer of political allegiance by Catholic Central Scotland to the ascendant Scottish National Party, previously seen as nativist and anti‐Catholic.

유럽과 아프리카 관계

In 1957, the six ECSC(European Coal ans Steel Community) members agreed to include the “Black Africa” in the European Economic Community (EEC) through the Treaty of Rome. The Article 131 of the Treaty of Rome identified the “Association of Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT)”. The Treaty of Rome first institutionalized the issue of European-African cooperation at the European Community level. The problem of including the overseas colonial territories in the European Integration Organization clearly shows the contradictions and uncertainties left by European colonial history. The colonial problem in the European integration has created ‘Europeans’ far away from geographical Europe, and extended the boundary of Europe to the Africa. As a result, this made Europe an ambiguous and fluid geopolitical entity with uncertain borders. It can be seen that the shadow of the past colonial era was still hanging in the process of European integration in the 1950s. Relations between Europe and Africa were often glorified by modifiers such as solidarity, complementarity, or interdependence, but the reality of the relationship has been constantly disproportionate. This study deals with the theme of European integration and colonization, which has been neglected in research on the history of European integration. This topic will reveal a side of the uncomfortable truth of European integration, which has not abandoned colonialism while talking about European integration.

Economic costs of protecting islands from invasive alien species.

Biological invasions represent a key threat to insular systems and have pronounced impacts across environments and economies. The ecological impacts have received substantial focus, but the socioeconomic impacts are poorly synthesized across spatial and temporal scales. We used the InvaCost database, the most comprehensive assessment of published economic costs of invasive species, to assess economic impacts on islands worldwide. We analyzed socioeconomic costs across differing expenditure types and examined temporal trends across islands that differ in their political geography-island nation states, overseas territories, and islands of continental countries. Over US$36 billion in total costs (including damages and management) has occurred on islands from 1965 to 2020 due to invasive species' impacts. Nation states incurred the greatest total and management costs, and islands of continental countries incurred costs of similar magnitude, both far higher than those in overseas territories. Damage-loss costs were significantly lower, but with qualitatively similar patterns across differing political geographies. The predominance of management spending differs from the pattern found for most countries examined and suggests important knowledge gaps in the extent of many damage-related socioeconomic impacts. Nation states spent the greatest proportion of their gross domestic products countering these costs, at least 1 order of magnitude higher than other locations.Most costs were borne by authorities and stakeholders, demonstrating the key role of governmental and nongovernmental bodies in addressing island invasions. Temporal trends revealed cost increases across all island types, potentially reflecting efforts to tackle invasive species at larger, more socially complex scales. Nevertheless, the already high total economic costs of island invasions substantiate the role of biosecurity in reducing and preventing invasive species arrivals to reduce strains on limited financial resources and avoid threats to sustainable development goals.

Horizon scanning for potential invasive non‐native species across the United Kingdom Overseas Territories

AbstractInvasive non‐native species (INNS) are recognized as a major threat to island biodiversity, ecosystems, and economies globally. Preventing high‐risk INNS from being introduced is the most cost‐effective way to avoid their adverse impacts. We applied a horizon scanning approach to identify potentially INNS in the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (OTs), ranging from Antarctica to the Caribbean, and from the Pacific to the Atlantic. High‐risk species were identified according to their potential for arrival, establishment, and likely impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem function, economies, and human health. Across OTs, 231 taxa were included on high‐risk lists. The highest ranking species were the Asian green mussel (Perna viridis), little fire ant (Wasmannia auropunctata), brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), and mesquite tree (Prosopis juliflora). Shipping containers were identified as the introduction pathway associated with the most species. The shared high‐risk species and pathways identified provide a guide for other remote islands and archipelagos to focus ongoing biosecurity and surveillance aimed at preventing future incursions.

Wildfires on Cr-rich Ferralsols can cause freshwater Cr(VI) pollution: A pilot study in New Caledonia

In the context of global warming, environmental forcing of wildfires on continental ecosystems is on a growing trend. Among other environmental impacts, wildfires can enhance trace metals concentration in freshwater systems. In this regard, chromium is of particular environmental and health concern because the temperature-induced oxidation of the less mobile and toxic Cr(III) form to the most mobile and toxic Cr(VI) one might represent a risk of freshwater pollution. The aim of the present study was to make a first assessment of this risk in New Caledonia by quantifying the influence of soil heating on Cr(VI) mobility in Cr-rich Ferralsols that cover about 1/3 of this French overseas territory. The results obtained indicated an enhanced Cr(VI) mobility upon soil heating from 200 °C, with a marked turnaround from 400 °C. Based on these results, a solid/solution mass balance approach allowed to confirm the risk of freshwater Cr(VI) pollution as a function of suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentration issued from burned Cr-rich Ferralsols. In addition, the results obtained revealed an apparent control of the Fe-oxides/silicates ratio on Cr(VI) mobility upon soil heating. Since this ratio decreases from the top to the bottom of ultramafic catchments, this latter result suggests that the risk of freshwater Cr(VI) pollution could depend on the actual location of the wildfires at the top or slope/base of these catchments. Since freshwaters represent the major water resource for the inhabitants of New Caledonia, these results point to the need for a larger evaluation of the risk of wildfires-induced freshwater Cr(VI) pollution at other catchments composed of Cr-bearing soils like Cambisols and Vertisols. At the larger scale, they also point to the need to foster studies aimed at better evaluating the risk of wildfires-induced freshwater Cr(VI) pollution at Cr-bearing pedological settings worldwide.