SPAIN
Researchers at the University of Oviedo work to prevent the spread of invasive alien species through research and outreach
New tools help identify alien species Invasive alien species are among the most serious threats to biodiversity in the EU and are particularly damaging to vulnerable ecosystems such as those found on islands.
At the University of Oviedo in Asturias, Alba Ardura (left), Prof. Yaisel J. Borrell, and Prof. Eva Garcia-Vazquez are working on invasive species.
Globalisation accelerates alien species’ introduction
I
nvasive alien species (IAS) can bring important economic and social benefits to society in the short term but may have deleterious impacts on natural resources that can last for generations. A report by the European Environmental Agency in 2012 estimated the impact of IAS on human life and health, and damage to agriculture, forestry, and fisheries to be in the range of EUR12bn per year in Europe.
The impact of IAS takes different forms. Competition for habitat and resources, predation on native species, transmission of disease (to humans and to other species), destruction of habitats or infrastructure, and hybridisation (mating with native species can alter the gene pool and genetic
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diversity) are among the negative affects of invasive species. Species have always moved from one place to another, but the difference is that today globalisation has greatly accelerated the process whereby animals and plants leave their origins and arrive at destinations where, if conditions are favourable, they will try and settle. Reversing globalisation is neither desirable nor practical for various reasons. Current trends suggest it
will increase over the next years leading most likely to an uptick in the rate of arrival of IAS caused deliberately or unintentionally. In addition, climate change may hasten the arrival of IAS by creating conditions in hitherto inhospitable areas in which alien species can survive and even thrive. These two factors, climate change and globalisation, have contributed to an increase in the volumes of species that are carried from one part