scholarly journals Capacity of countries to reduce biological invasions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Latombe ◽  
Hanno Seebens ◽  
Bernd Lenzner ◽  
Franck Courchamp ◽  
Stefan Dullinger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Invasions ◽  
Alien Species ◽  
Economic Space ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Management Measures ◽  
Ecological Predictors ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Education Innovation ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
High Level

AbstractThe extent and impacts of biological invasions on biodiversity are largely shaped by an array of socio-ecological predictors, which exhibit high variation among countries. Yet a global synthetic perspective of how these factors vary across countries is currently lacking. Here, we investigate how a set of five socio-ecological predictors (Governance, Trade, Environmental Performance, Lifestyle and Education, Innovation) explain i) country-level established alien species (EAS) richness of eight taxonomic groups, and ii) country capacity to prevent and manage biological invasions and their impacts. Trade and Governance together best predicted the average EAS richness, increasing variance explained by up to 54% compared to models based on climatic and spatial variables only. Country-level EAS richness increased strongly with Trade, whereas high level of Governance resulted in lower EAS richness. Historical (1996) levels of Governance and Trade better explained response variables than current (2015) levels. Thus, our results reveal a historical legacy of these two predictors with profound implications for the future of biological invasions. We therefore used Governance and Trade to define a two-dimensional socio-economic space in which the position of a country captures its capacity to address issues of biological invasions. Our results provide novel insights into the complex relationship between socio-ecological predictors and biological invasions. Further, we highlight the need for designing better policies and management measures for alien species, and for integrating biological invasions in global environmental scenarios.

scholarly journals Multi-taxa inventory of naturalized species in Chile

NeoBiota ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 25-41
Author(s):  
Nicol Fuentes ◽  
Alicia Marticorena ◽  
Alfredo Saldaña ◽  
Viviane Jerez ◽  
Juan Carlos Ortiz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Invasions ◽  
Alien Species ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Cumulative Number ◽  
Plateau Phase ◽  
Biodiversity Indicators ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrates ◽  
Marine Habitats ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Positive Increment

Here we present a multi-taxa inventory of naturalized alien species recorded on continental Chile and adjacent marine habitats, including eight taxonomic groups. We identified 1,122 species. These comprise 790 vascular plants (terrestrial and aquatic); 31 nonvascular plants [Bryophyta (mosses), Marchantiophyta (liverworts) and Anthocerotophyta (hornworts)]; 18 marine and freshwater macro and micro algae; 71 fungi; 39 terrestrial vertebrates (amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds); 108 insects; 37 marine and freshwater invertebrates and vertebrates (6 polychaetes, 3 mollusks and 28 Pisces); and 28 terrestrial gastropods. For all taxonomic groups, naturalized species were found to mainly be distributed in regions with Mediterranean and temperate climates, with few at either extreme of the country. The invasion curves show that naturalized species first underwent a positive increment, followed by an apparent plateau phase, mainly in vascular plants, insects and vertebrates. In fungi, marine and freshwater macro and microalgae, vertebrates and invertebrates, the cumulative number of naturalized species increased sharply starting in the early 20th century; the lack of collections before 1900 is also evident. When considering naturalized species as a whole, this inventory highlights that the rate of new naturalizations consistently increased after 1950, especially for some taxonomic groups such as insects, fungi, and vascular plants. This multi-taxa inventory of naturalized species provides a platform for national reporting on biodiversity indicators and highlights areas where Chile must invest resources to manage biological invasions.

scholarly journals Socioeconomic legacy yields an invasion debt

2010 ◽  
Vol 108 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franz Essl ◽  
Stefan Dullinger ◽  
Wolfgang Rabitsch ◽  
Philip E. Hulme ◽  
Karl Hülber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Invasions ◽  
Alien Species ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Species Introductions ◽  
Socioeconomic Drivers ◽  
Invasion Debt ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Terrestrial Insects ◽  
Taxonomic Groups

Globalization and economic growth are widely recognized as important drivers of biological invasions. Consequently, there is an increasing need for governments to address the role of international trade in their strategies to prevent species introductions. However, many of the most problematic alien species are not recent arrivals but were introduced several decades ago. Hence, current patterns of alien-species richness may better reflect historical rather than contemporary human activities, a phenomenon which might be called “invasion debt.” Here, we show that across 10 taxonomic groups (vascular plants, bryophytes, fungi, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, terrestrial insects, and aquatic invertebrates) in 28 European countries, current numbers of alien species established in the wild are indeed more closely related to indicators of socioeconomic activity from the year 1900 than to those from 2000, although the majority of species introductions occurred during the second half of the 20th century. The strength of the historical signal varies among taxonomic groups, with those possessing good capabilities for dispersal (birds, insects) more strongly associated with recent socioeconomic drivers. Nevertheless, our results suggest a considerable historical legacy for the majority of the taxa analyzed. The consequences of the current high levels of socioeconomic activity on the extent of biological invasions will thus probably not be completely realized until several decades into the future.

scholarly journals Introducing AlienScenarios: a project to develop scenarios and models of biological invasions for the 21 st century

NeoBiota ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franz Essl ◽  
Bernd Lenzner ◽  
Franck Courchamp ◽  
Stefan Dullinger ◽  
Jonathan M. Jeschke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Invasions ◽  
Alien Species ◽  
Invasive Alien Species ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Invasion Model ◽  
First Time ◽  
Different Levels

AlienScenarios, a three-year project starting in March 2019, will evaluate for the first time the range of plausible futures of biological invasions for the 21st century. AlienScenarios consists of seven project partners and seven integrated complementary subprojects. We will develop the qualitative narratives for plausible futures of global alien species richness and impacts in the 21st century – the Alien Species Narratives (ASNs). The ASNs further serve as overarching concept to parameterize quantitative models of global, continental and regional futures of biological invasions. We will also establish the first global mechanistic invasion model considering major processes of biological invasions such as source pools, driver dynamics and establishment rates. Further, we will assess the impacts of invasive alien species (IAS) in terms of economic costs according to the different ASNs. In addition, we will assess the consequences of different levels of implementation of the European Union Regulation on IAS. Providing some more detailed regional information, we will analyse changes of the functional composition of communities in mountain regions under different scenario storylines and will extend the analyses to the Global South using Panama as a country-level case study. Finally, the results of the other WPs will be synthesized, and the approach and results of AlienScenarios will be discussed with and communicated to stakeholders and the wider community. AlienScenarios will provide crucially needed insights for pro-active alien species management and policy. It will thus make an important contribution to global assessments and projections of biodiversity and ecosystem services, as well as regional policies (e.g. EU regulation on IAS).

scholarly journals Economic costs of biological invasions in Asia

NeoBiota ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 53-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunlong Liu ◽  
Christophe Diagne ◽  
Elena Angulo ◽  
Achyut-Kumar Banerjee ◽  
Yifeng Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Biological Invasions ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
India And China

Invasive species have caused severe impacts on biodiversity and human society. Although the estimation of environmental impacts caused by invasive species has increased in recent years, economic losses associated with biological invasions are only sporadically estimated in space and time. In this study, we synthesized the losses incurred by invasions in Asia, based on the most comprehensive database of economic costs of invasive species worldwide, including 560 cost records for 88 invasive species in 22 countries. We also assessed the differences in economic costs across taxonomic groups, geographical regions and impacted sectors, and further identified the major gaps of current knowledge in Asia. Reported economic costs of biological invasions were estimated between 1965 and 2017, and reached a total of US$ 432.6 billion (2017 value), with dramatic increases in 2000–2002 and in 2004. The highest costs were recorded for terrestrial ectotherms, for species estimated in South Asia, and for species estimated at the country level, and were related to more than one impacted sector. Two taxonomic groups with the highest reported costs were insects and mammals, and two countries with the highest costs were India and China. Non-English data covered all of 12 taxonomic groups, whereas English data only covered six groups, highlighting the importance of considering data from non-English sources to have a more comprehensive estimation of economic costs associated with biological invasions. However, we found that the estimation of economic costs was lacking for most Asian countries and for more than 96% of introduced species in Asia. Further, the estimation is heavily biased towards insects and mammals and is very limited concerning expenditures on invasion management. To optimize the allocation of limited resources, there is an important need to better and more widely study the economic costs of invasive alien species. In this way, improved cost reporting and more collaborations between scientists and stakeholders are needed across Asia.

scholarly journals Biological invasions in brazilian environmental science courses: do we need new approaches?

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 221-238
Author(s):  
Erika Pereira Cordeiro de Melo ◽  
Juliana Simião-Ferreira ◽  
Herson Pereira Cordeiro de Melo ◽  
Bruno Spacek Godoy ◽  
Rodrigo Damasco Daud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Invasions ◽  
Alien Species ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Species Dispersal ◽  
Exotic Fish ◽  
The One ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Native Birds

The increasing destruction of natural environments worldwide favored more and more alien species’ dispersal, distancing people from nature and consequently from native species. We investigated undergrad students’ perception about alien and native Brazilian species evaluating classes of the first (freshmen) and last semesters (seniors) of four courses in environmental sciences in three institutions and assessed these students’ knowledge level in different aspects related to native and alien species. The 509 interviewees were able to identify Brazilian native species better than alien species. They also produced better identifications among taxonomic groups of mammals (either alien or native), native birds, and exotic fish compared to invertebrate species. Most students did not consider themselves well informed about the topic. We found an association between the courses/semesters attended and the level of knowledge of the students. Thus, we concluded that, on the one hand, the students demonstrated relevant knowledge about the native species but, on the other, presented deficiencies in invasive alien species’ knowledge. Therefore, we suggest the revision/restructuring of how the biological invasions theme is covered in the academic curricula of undergraduate courses in the environmental area.

The Sofia Ministerial Declaration on Black Sea Fisheries and Aquaculture

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 801-822
Author(s):  
Nicola Ferri ◽  
Nilüfer Oral
Keyword(s):  
Black Sea ◽  
Working Group ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Management Measures ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
High Level

AbstractThe General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), established in 1949 has always included Black Sea fisheries and in 1976 its constitutive agreement was amended to expressly include the Black Sea. A working group on the Black Sea (WGBS) established in 2011 was instrumental in adopting the first GFCM management measures for Black Sea fisheries. On 7 June 2018, the GFCM organized a High-Level Conference on Black Sea Fisheries and Aquaculture in Sofia which culminated with the signature of a ministerial declaration on Black Sea fisheries and aquaculture. This marked a milestone in the history of cooperation for fisheries among the Black Sea riparian countries.

Pyrosequencing analysis of free-living and attached bacterial communities in Meiliang Bay, Lake Taihu, a large eutrophic shallow lake in China

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiangming Tang ◽  
Linlin Li ◽  
Keqiang Shao ◽  
Boweng Wang ◽  
Xianlei Cai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Communities ◽  
Lake Taihu ◽  
16S Rrna Genes ◽  
Rrna Genes ◽  
Eutrophic Lakes ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Bacterial Populations ◽  
Meiliang Bay ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
High Level

To elucidate the relationship between particle-attached (PA, ≥5.0 μm) and free-living (FL, 0.2–5.0 μm) bacterial communities, samplings were collected seasonally from November 2011 to August 2012 in Meiliang Bay, Lake Taihu, China. We used 454 pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes to study bacterial diversity and structure of PA and FL communities. The analysis rendered 37 985 highly qualified reads, subsequently assigned to 1755 operational taxonomic units (97% similarity) for the 8 samples. Although 27 high-level taxonomic groups were obtained, the 3 dominant phyla (Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes) comprised about 75.9% and 82.4% of the PA and FL fractions, respectively. Overall, we found no significant differences between community types, as indicated by ANOSIM R statistics (R = 0.063, P > 0.05) and the Parsimony test (P = 0.222). Dynamics of bacterial communities were correlated with changes in concentrations of total suspended solids (TSS) and total phosphorus (TP). In summer, a significant taxonomic overlap in the 2 size fractions was observed when Cyanobacteria, a major contributor of TSS and TP, dominated in the water, highlighting the potential rapid exchange between PA and FL bacterial populations in large shallow eutrophic lakes.

Photocatalysis of Cementitious Materials: Clean Buildings and Clean Air

MRS Bulletin ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 328-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigi Cassar
Keyword(s):  
Uv Light ◽  
Environmental Pollutants ◽  
Cementitious Materials ◽  
Heterogeneous Photocatalysis ◽  
Aesthetic Quality ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Clean Air ◽  
Self Cleaning ◽  
High Level ◽  
Building Walls

AbstractWhile the primary function of concrete is structural, its pervasiveness in our society lends it to other functions and creates the need for it to maintain its integrity and aesthetic quality. Therefore, concrete with added functionality–for example, self-cleaning characteristics and the ability to remove pollutants–is desirable. Heterogeneous photocatalysis (e.g., gas–solid or liquid–solid catalytic processes caused by light irradiation) by semiconductor particles or coatings has now reached a high level of development and is a promising technology for the reduction of global environmental pollutants. Among the various semiconductor materials, TiO2 in the form of anatase has attracted wide interest, due to its strong oxidizing power under near-UV radiation, its chemical stability when exposed to acidic and basic compounds, its chemical inertness in the absence of UV light, and the absence of toxicity. TiO2 has proved very effective in the reduction of pollutants such as NOx, aromatics, ammonia, and aldehydes. Surprisingly, the use of TiO2 in combination with cementitious materials has shown a favorable synergistic effect in the reduction of pollutants. These new materials have already found relevant applications in self-cleaning building walls and in the reduction of urban pollutants.

scholarly journals Assessment of fish assemblage in an urban system, Itapecerica River, upper São Francisco River basin, Divinópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Check List ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrício F.T. Domingos ◽  
Ralph G. Thomé ◽  
Rosy I.M.A. Ribeiro ◽  
Helena A.V. Souza ◽  
Hélio B. Santos
Keyword(s):  
Alien Species ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Fish Assemblage ◽  
Fish Fauna ◽  
Urban System ◽  
Migratory Fish ◽  
Sao Francisco River ◽  
São Francisco River ◽  
Ecological Importance ◽  
High Level

Despite the economic and ecological importance of the Itapecerica River, there is no information about the local fish fauna. The aim of the present study was to provide a list of fish species in Itapecerica River, a tributary of the upper São Francisco River basin, inside an urban area. The specimens were collected quarterly from May 2010 to February 2012, using casting nets, trawl net and gillnets. We listed 29 species belonging to 21 genera of 14 families and 4 orders. Characiformes were represented by 16 species, Siluriformes by nine, Gymnotiformes and Perciformes by two each. Three alien species and five migratory fish were recorded. The low number of species found in this study in relation to São Francisco basin, could be reflecting the high level of degradation of waters in the Itapecerica River.

scholarly journals Macro and micro determinants of project performance

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yemesrach Assefa ◽  
Oscar P. Rivera ◽  
Désiré Vencatachellum
Keyword(s):  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Project Performance ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Development Effectiveness ◽  
Target Date ◽  
African Development Bank ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Bank Group ◽  
One Year ◽  
High Level

One year from the target date of the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the result in Africa is only a work in progress. Africa has made progress towards some of the MDGs but needs to draw lessons and improve performance post 2015. This study investigates the development effectiveness of the African Development Bank Group-financed projects using 229 concluded projects between 2004 and 2012 to assess the major determinants of project performance. The study finds that the Bank Group has on average a high level of development effectiveness. Using econometric analysis the study found that country-level variables’ interactions with project-level variables explain a substantial share of the variationsin project performance. In particular, it affirmed that country policies and institutions and country capacity in general is positively correlated with project performance whilst parallel project implementation units were not correlated. At the micro level, the age of a project, the quality of project design and the choice of programing instrument were also important determinants of project success. The findings of this study therefore will inform the policy formulation processes in the post 2015 agenda.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document