scholarly journals Management of alien aquatic invasive species: Strategic guidelines and policy in India

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-95
Author(s):  
Atul K. Singh

Abstract The present article is aimed at understanding current policies and implementation strategies for the management of aquatic invasive species in India and identifying opportunities for improvement. Existing management approaches and policies have briefly been put into place concerning fish introductions and aquatic invasive species, but looking at their effectiveness, it is argued that mitigating the negative impacts caused by invasive species should be at the core for their successful management. International institutions have explicitly recognized the need to contain and eradicate biological invasions and have set of relevant guidelines and enforcements. In India, risk assessment, risk management, quarantine, biosecurity and regulatory mechanisms have been developed and implemented to filter fish introductions and consequently check aquatic invasions. Nevertheless, invasive species introduced into the inland waters are emerging as ‘chronic risks’ to the aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem services. It is imperative that these emerging issues are put on the National Agenda and Action Plan to regulate fish invasions and minimise their adverse impacts. A National Policy on prevention and control of aquatic invasive species is urgently needed to deal with nuisance and harmful impacts. Some future needs have also been suggested to tackle this issue.


Bothalia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haylee Kaplan ◽  
John R.U. Wilson ◽  
Hildegard Klein ◽  
Lesley Henderson ◽  
Helmuth G. Zimmermann ◽  
...  

Background: South Africa has a long history of managing biological invasions. The rapid increase in the scale and complexity of problems associated with invasions calls for new, more strategic management approaches. This paper explores strategic management approaches for cactus invasions in South Africa. Cacti (Cactaceae) have had a long history of socio-economic benefits, considerable negative environmental and socio-economic impacts, and a wide range of management interventions in South Africa. Objectives: To guide the future management of cactus invasions, a national strategic framework was developed by the South African Cactus Working Group. The overarching aim of this framework is to reduce the negative impacts of cacti to a point where their benefits significantly outweigh the losses. Method: Four strategic objectives were proposed: (1) all invasive and potentially invasive cactus species should be prevented from entering the country, (2) new incursions of cactus species must be rapidly detected and eradicated, (3) the impacts of invasive cacti must be reduced and contained and (4) socio-economically useful cacti (both invasive and non-invasive species) must be utilised sustainably to minimise the risk of further negative impacts. Results: There are currently 35 listed invasive cactus species in the country; 10 species are targeted for eradication and 12 are under partial or complete biological control. We discuss approaches for the management of cactus species, their introduction and spread pathways and spatial prioritisation of control efforts. Conclusion: A thorough understanding of context-specific invasion processes and stakeholder support is needed when implementing strategies for a group of invasive species.



2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  

Abstract Health literacy (HL) has become an important topic in many countries. As HL - meaning the ability to access, understand, appraise and apply health information (Sørensen et al. 2012) - is important to make sound health decisions, to promote health and to take an active part in managing health and illness in everyday life and navigating the health care system. In the modern digital knowledge society, HL is also indispensable for orienting oneself in the abundance of mostly digital health information, including incorrect and false information, for locating reliable information and for assessing the trustworthiness and quality of information. However, available studies show that HL is insufficient in many countries. Low HL has - as many studies show - negative social consequences ranging from unhealthy behaviour, higher risk for diseases, less self-care and deficits in coping with illness and chronicity, to over- and misuse (extensive use) of health care. The promotion of HL is therefore an important public health task. An increasing number of population studies and policy documents currently underline this. The WHO has therefore included HL into many of its strategies, like the declarations of Shanghai (2016) and Astana (2018), and has published several publications focusing on HL, like the Solid Facts (2013), the 57th Health Evidence Network Report (2018) or the Roadmap for Implementing Health Literacy Activities (2019). In many countries, strategies and national action plans to improve HL have been developed in response to the political call for action, e.g. in Scotland, Germany and recently also in Portugal. Other countries and regions are currently working on the development of a HL action plan, e.g. Belgium and the WHO European Region action plan on HL. The development and especially the implementation strategies of action plans in different countries and the experiences gained will be discussed comparatively in the workshop. Following an introduction (10'), two countries, which already have action plans will introduce their implementation strategy in one presentation each: Germany and Portugal (30'). This will be followed by two presentations of countries/regions in which action plans are currently being developed: Belgium and WHO Europe (30'). Afterwards the participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss on the different strategies (20'). The workshop will help other initiatives to successfully develop and implement policy plans and strategies in different fields of public health. Key messages Strategies and national action plans to improve HL have been developed in different countries/regions. It is important to reflect on the chosen development and implementation strategies and to discuss their effects, successes and barriers.



2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-79
Author(s):  
Hurmat Ejaz ◽  
Esther Somanader ◽  
Uday Dave ◽  
Hermann Ehrlich ◽  
M. Azizur Rahman

Didymosphenia geminata diatoms, or Didymo, was first found to be an invasive species that could have negative impacts on the environment due to the aggressive growth of its polysaccharide-based stalks. The stalks’ adhesive properties have prompted park officials to alert the general public to limit further spread and contamination of this algae to other bodies of water. Although the negative effects of Didymo have been studied in the past, recent studies have demonstrated a potential positive side to this alga. One of the potential benefits includes the structural component of the polysaccharide stalks. The origin of the polysaccharides within stalks remains unknown; however, they can be useful in a waste management and agricultural setting. The primary purpose of this study was to describe both the harmful and beneficial nature of Didymo. Important outcomes include findings related to its application in various fields such as medicine and technology. These polysaccharides can be isolated and studied closely to produce efficient solar power cells and batteries. Though they may be harmful while uncontained in nature, they appear to be very useful in the technological and medical advancement of our society.



Author(s):  
D Yanuarita ◽  
D F Inaku ◽  
N Nurdin ◽  
S W Rahim ◽  
H Kudsiah ◽  
...  


Fisheries ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 121-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Rothlisberger ◽  
W. Lindsay Chadderton ◽  
Joanna McNulty ◽  
David M. Lodge


Risk Analysis ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 1169-1191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda M. West ◽  
Catherine S. Jarnevich ◽  
Nicholas E. Young ◽  
Pam L. Fuller


Koedoe ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kudakwashe Musengi ◽  
Sally Archibald

Alien invasive species can have negative impacts on the functioning of ecosystems. Plantation species such as pines have become serious invaders in many parts of the world, but eucalypts have not been nearly as successful invaders. This is surprising considering that in their native habitat they dominate almost all vegetation types. Available theory on the qualities that characterise invasive species was used to assess the invasive potential of Eucalyptus grandis – a common plantation species globally. To determine rates of establishment of E. grandis outside plantations, we compared population demographics and reproductive traits at two locations in Mpumalanga, South Africa: one at higher elevation with more frost. Eucalyptus grandis has a short generation time. We found no evidence that establishment of E. grandis was limiting its spread into native grassland vegetation, but it does appear that recruitment is limited by frost and fire over much of its range in Mpumalanga. Populations at both study locations displayed characteristics of good recruitment. Size class distributions showed definite bottlenecks to recruitment which were more severe when exposed to frost at higher elevations. Generally, the rate of spread is low suggesting that the populations are on the establishing populations’ invasion stage. This research gives no indication that there are any factors that would prevent eucalyptus from becoming invasive in the future, and the projected increase in winter temperatures should be a cause for concern as frost is currently probably slowing recruitment of E. grandis across much of its planted range.Conservation implications: Eucalyptus plantations occur within indigenous grasslands that are of high conservation value. Frost and fire can slow recruitment where they occur, but there are no obvious factors that would prevent E. grandis from becoming invasive in the future, and monitoring of its rates of spread is recommended.



2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacopo Cerri ◽  
Ernesto Azzurro

Aquatic Invasive species (AIS) are a growing driver of change across marine and freshwater ecosystems but spatially-explicit information is seldom available for supporting management actions and decision making. Here we conceived and tested a new participatory method to map the distribution of three invasive species (Callinectes sapidus, Procambarus clarkii and Oreochromis niloticus) in the coastal lagoon of Lesina (Italy). Local fishers were asked to draw the distribution of each species on pre-printed maps, indicating districts of the lagoon characterized by different abundance levels. Then, maps were converted to a lattice grid and a Bayesian hierarchical Generalized Additive Modeling was adopted to model species distribution in the lagoon, calculating the coefficient of variation for model fitted values to map fishers agreement about the distribution of each species.The spatial gradient in the abundance of the three species in the lagoon aligned with their ecological requirements. C. sapidus was abundant throughout the whole lagoon, peaking in correspondence of saltmarsh vegetation, while P. clarkii and O. niloticus, were much less abundant and remained distributed near to freshwater inputs. Experts agreed about the spatial distribution of C. sapidus in the lagoon, with a median coefficient of variation in model fitted values of 3.9%. On the other hand, the coefficient of variation was higher for P.clarkii (19.9%) O. niloticus (18.4%), indicating a higher level of uncertainty about their estimated distribution.With this example, we provided new metrics to evaluate the quality of LEK-based participatory mapping in terms of agreement and consistency among experts. The resulting information provides new insights for spatially informed management across aquatic realms in relation to the increasing ecological and socio-economical pressures posed by biological invaders.



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