Alien species are invading countries, endangering biodiversity
A new report alarmingly reveals that over 37,000 alien species are rapidly spreading across the globe due to human activities.
By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN, Jerusalem Post, SEPTEMBER 5, 2023
Invasive Alien Species Report
A recent report by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) reveals a troubling trend: Over 37,000 alien species are rapidly spreading across the globe due to human activities, and this number continues to surge.
Over 3,500 are classified as harmful invasive alien species, imposing a staggering economic burden of over $423 billion annually in 2019. These costs have escalated at least fourfold every decade since 1970.“Invasive alien species are the subset of alien species that are known to have become established and spread, which cause negative impacts on nature and often also on people,” the Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species and their Control explained. About 6% of alien plants; 22% of alien invertebrates; 14% of alien vertebrates; and 11% of alien microbes are known to be invasive.”
Eighty-six experts from 49 countries worked for more than
four-and-a-half years to produce the report, including Israel’s Prof.
Bella Galil of the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History and the Israel
National Center for Biodiversity Studies. The report draws on over
13,000 references and was approved last week in Germany by
representatives of the 143 member States of IPBES.
Alien species major factor in animal and plant extinctions
The report found that “invasive alien species have been a major factor in 60% – and the only driver in 16% – of global animal and plant extinctions that we have recorded, and at least 218 invasive alien species have been responsible for more than 1,200 local extinctions,” explained co-author Prof. Anibal Pauchard from Chile.
Some 85% of these species negatively impact people’s quality of life, the report said, such as those that cause disease, like malaria, Zika, and West Nile Fever – all spread by invasive alien mosquitoes. They have also damaged livelihoods, like in Lake Victoria, where fisheries have declined due to tilapia’s depletion due to the spread of water hyacinth.Israel also accidentally imported the small fire ant when a factory in
Kibbutz Afikim brought wood from South America to the country. Within a
short while, the ants spread throughout the country. Today, they are
found around the Kinneret, where they can attack tourists.
“These ants deliver extremely painful bites, and if bitten as a young child or by someone with a venom allergy, it may necessitate medical intervention,” Galil explained.
Last December, at the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the
UN Convention on Biological Diversity, 200 countries agreed to
“Eliminate, minimize, reduce and or mitigate the impacts of invasive
alien species on biodiversity and ecosystem services by identifying and
managing pathways of the introduction of alien species, preventing the
introduction and establishment of priority invasive alien species,
reducing the rates of introduction and establishment of other known or
potentially invasive alien species by at least 50 percent by 2030.”Galil
said it is a lofty but essential goal.
The report highlights that the interactions between invasive alien species and other influencing factors could magnify their dangers. For instance, when invasive alien plants intersect with climate change, it can lead to more frequent and more severe wildfires, as seen in recent catastrophic events globally, ultimately releasing increased carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
“Business-as-usual is actually unlikely,” said co-author Prof. Helen Roy. “With so many major drivers of change predicted to worsen, it is expected that the increase of invasive alien species and their negative impacts are likely to be significantly greater.
“The accelerating global economy intensified and expanded land- and sea-use change, as well as demographic changes, are likely to lead to increases in invasive alien species worldwide,” Roy continued. “Even without the introduction of new alien species, already established alien species will continue to expand their ranges and spread to new countries and regions. Climate change will make the situation even worse.”
The authors of the paper call for prevention through border biosecurity and strictly enforced import controls, as well as through preparedness and early detection.
“Prevention is absolutely the best, most cost-effective option – but eradication, containment, and control are also effective in specific contexts,” Pauchard said. “Ecosystem restoration can also improve the results of management actions and increase the resistance of ecosystems to future invasive alien species. Indeed, managing invasive alien species can help to mitigate the negative effects of other drivers of change.”
Invasive alien species cost global economy US$ 423 bil. annually
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