Download Information sharing and Invasive Alien Species (IAS)

Information sharing
and
Invasive Alien Species (IAS)
Bald cypress smothered by Old World climbing fern
Lygodium microphyllum; Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Florida
Michael Browne
IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group
Photo: Scott Kam
Rat attacking New Zealand fantail
Photo: D Mudge
Photo: National Geographic
• Definitions
• Fighting back
• The Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG)
• The Global Invasive Species Database (GISD)
• The Conservation Commons
• The Global Invasive Species Information Network
Definitions
“Alien species” means
Introduced outside its natural ecosystem as a direct or
indirect result of human activity
“Invasive Alien Species" (IAS) means
An alien species which becomes established in natural
or semi-natural ecosystems or habitat, is an agent of
change, and threatens native biological diversity.
IAS
Alien species
Alien
UN Convention on Biological Diversity / IUCN
IAS are found in all taxonomic groups
IAS can be introduced and spread via
many pathways and vectors
Unintentional introductions
Invertebrates in nursery plants, cut flowers
Contaminants of primary production
Organisms in or on timber
Seed contaminants
Live food trade
Ballast water
Aquaculture
Stowaways
Hull fouling
Waste
Host
Etc…
Intentional introductions
Aquaculture
Erosion control
Horticulture
Ornamental
Biological control
Forestry
Development aid
Pet trade
‘Improvement’
Stocking
Food
Economic impacts
The brown tree snake causes US$5
million damge to electrical
infrastrucure on Guam per year
Taro leaf blight decimated
taro production in Samoa
and cost US$40 million to
its economy
Caulerpa taxifolia has
affected tourism in the
Mediterannean by altering
the seafloor from native
reefs to a layer of seaweed
The field rat consumes 17%
of the rice crop in Indonesia
Ecological impacts
Crazy ants
have killed
25% of the
red land crab
population on
Christmas
Island
On Tahiti the tree, Miconia
calvescens, reduces biodiversity
and can cause landslides
The brown tree snake has caused the
extinction of most of Guam’s native
birds
Global biodiversity crisis
Global Biodiversity Crisis
ƒ Current extinction rates are 100 to 1,000
times natural (background) extinction rates
ƒ < 3% of the world’s species assessed but
15,589 species considered threatened with
extinction (2004 Red List)
ƒ Invasive alien species are a major threat to
biodiversity, second only to habitat
destruction
Social impacts
• Human health: e.g. mosquito-born diseases
• Livelihoods: e.g. red imported fire ant
• Recreation: e.g. invasive plants interfere with
recreational activities
• Cultural values: e.g. loss of traditional materials
Fighting back
Active conservation measures to save iconic species:
e.g. In British Columbia, introduced American bullfrogs imported for frog
farms in the 1930s compete with the native Pacific treefrog (Hyla regilla)
and the red-legged frog (Rana aurora in the IUCN Red List).
Action: Public education and restoration of habitat to favour native
species.
Increasing number of community projects as awareness
grows:
e.g. In San Francisco Bay, the San Francisco Invasive Spartina Project
conducts surveys and monitoring. Its website (http://www.spartina.org)
asks people to report sightings and promises a rapid response.
Fighting back
Prevention is the most cost-effective response
Prevention is everybody’s business, but…
…people need access to reliable information:
Pest species descriptions and images
„ Information about their impacts
„ How pests and weeds are spread
„ How people can make a difference
„ Inspirational examples of what other communities have done
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The Invasive Species Specialist Group
Species Survival Commission (SSC)
ISSG
Other Specialist Groups
ISSG goal: ‘to reduce threats to natural ecosystems and
the native species they contain by increasing awareness of
invasive alien species and of ways to prevent, control or
eradicate them’.
Invasive Species Specialist Group
ƒ 160 members in 40 countries
ƒ International exchange of information
ƒ Scientific, technical and policy advice on IAS
ƒ Facilitate capacity building
ƒ Encourage / facilitate fighting back against IAS
ƒ HQ at the University of Auckland, Tamaki Campus
ƒ Newsletter, publications
ISSG functions
1. Advocacy, policy and mainstreaming
2. Demonstration projects and capacity building
3. Networking and information exchange
The Global Invasive Species Database
1. Advocacy, policy and mainstreaming
Scientific, technical and policy advice on IAS
Mainstreaming IAS (conservation, aid, trade,
sustainable development, etc.)
Contributing to international instruments
Encouraging strategic approaches
Networking
2. Demonstration projects and capacity building
The Cooperative Islands Initiative:
Proposed by island nations
„ Endorsed by UN Biodiversity Convention
„ $1m grant from NZAID to establish a
Pacific Programme
„ Links growing in Caribbean, Indian
Ocean, Mediterranean, NW Mexico etc.
„ Coordinated by ISSG
„ Partners and collaborators
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2. Demonstration projects and capacity building
The Cooperative Islands Initiative aims to:
Build capability to prevent, eradicate and
control invasive species
• Focus on Demonstration Projects
• Share lessons learned
• Promote cooperation
To conserve island biodiversity and sustain
peoples’ livelihoods
3. International information exchange
Global sources of information are
needed:
9 ecological characteristics
9 prior invasiveness
9 biodiversity impacts caused
9 global distribution (alien range
as well as native)
9 introduction pathways
9 pathways for spread (including
human)
9 management, and lessons
learned
3. International information exchange
The Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) of IUCN is
involved in several "vehicles" for such international information
exchange:
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The Global Invasive Species Database (GISD)
Planned development of a Global Register of
Invasive Species (GRIS)
Planned development of a Management Project
Register (MPR)
Responses to individual enquiries
Global Invasive Species Information Network
(GISIN)
The list server Aliens-L
3. International information exchange
Aliens-L listserver:
ƒ Dedicated to IAS information and related issues
ƒ Focus on environmental invasive species
ƒ To subscribe, send email without a subject header to:
[email protected]
ƒ Practitioners helping each other
ƒ Searchable archive
ƒ 600+ subscribers
ƒ It works!
R.Wittenberg
The Global Invasive Species Database
• A free, online, searchable database
• Developed and managed by the ISSG
• Aimed at a broad audience
www.issg.org/database
and mirrored by the
National Biological Information Infrastructure at
www.invasivespecies.net/database
Providing easy access to key elements of
globally-sourced IAS information contributed
and/or reviewed by international experts
Some GISD collaborations:
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The GISD is a project in the US/NZ Bilateral Climate Change partnership
The Global Plant Conservation Strategy
Indicators for 2010 Global Biodiversity Targets
Streamlining European 2010 Biodiversity Indicators
The Red List database
Delivering Alien Invasive Inventories for Europe (DAISIE)
World Bank's analyses of the link between international trade and the
global distribution of IAS
WWF and TNC listing of invasive species globally by ecoregion
The Pacific Invasives Learning Network
Invasive species United Kingdom’s overseas territories
Invasive species in French overseas territories
Introduction pathways to Antarctica and sub Antarctic islands
Japanese language version of the GISD (Biodiversity Network Japan)
Adapting invasive species management plans for climate change
The Global Invasive Species Information Network (GISIN)
Working with national and regional partners to address geographical and
taxonomic gaps in invasive species information
The Conservation Commons
Free and open access to data, information and
knowledge for conservation purposes
Three principles
1. Open Access
2. Mutual Benefit
3. Rights and Responsibilities:
Attribution
Original integrity preserved
Comply with contributor’s conditions of use
http://conservationcommons.org
The Global Invasive Species Information Network
An infrastructure for sharing…
fact sheets / profiles
non-native and invasive checklists
specimens
identification / diagnostic information
images
bibliographies
www.gisinetwork.org
observations
projects
maps
experts
GISIN progress report to July 06
Draft schema and report reviewed in Agadir, Morocco (Feb 2006)
http://invasivespecies.nbii.gov/documents/CBB-report-to-CBD.pdf
Three working groups are making progress on Checklists, Terminology,
and Technical Implementation
http://wiki.cs.umb.edu/twiki/bin/view/IASPS/AgadirMeeting
Progress Report sent to CBD COP8
http://www.biodiv.org/doc/meetings/cop/cop-08/information/cop-08-inf35-en.pdf.
Ongoing development through discussions on Wiki pages hosted by Dr.
Bob Morris
http://wiki.cs.umb.edu/twiki/bin/view/IASPS/
GISIN progress report: Next
Dr. Bob Morris and Michael Browne are making the draft
Invasive Alien Species Profile Schema more "machine
readable" and robust.
GISIN has asked TDWG to convene an Invasive Species
Information Systems Interest Group during their annual
meeting in St Louis, 15-22 October.
The ISIS Interest Group will take the schema through a
formal standards adoption process
GBIF will fund a limited implementation in 2007 using
different data types and use case scenarios
The Global Invasive Species Database
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All taxa from micro-organisms to animals and plants
Aims to increase public awareness about introduced
species that negatively impact biodiversity
Aims to facilitate effective prevention and
management activities
CD-ROM version
GISD: summary statistics
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400 + profiles since 2001
Growing at 100 per year, plus
100 updates
Started with 65,000 Euro
Annual budget ~160,000 Euro per year
2 full-time staff, 1 student equivalent and
IT support
We need another full-time staff
Key assets: good design based on extensive
user analysis, 1000s of voluntary invasive
species experts around the world, key
partners (e.g. NBII).
The GISD’s audience
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Researchers
Practitioners
Natural resource managers
Extension agents
Environmental and biodiversity
specialists
Quarantine and border control
personnel
Educators and students
Individuals and organisations
concerned with the environment.
900 unique visitors per day (58,000 hits per day)
Examples of positive feedback
Some GISD funders and supporters
National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) of the USGS
The University of Auckland
Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Limited NZ
The World Conservation Union (IUCN)
The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
The Regional Natural Heritage Programme
Biosecurity New Zealand
The Pacific Development and Conservation Trust
New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID)
The Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP)
The Global Environment Facility (GEF)
La Fondation TOTAL
L'initiative “Espèces envahissantes d'outre-mer" du Comité français de l'UICN.
The World Bank
US Fish and Wildlife Service
USDA Forest Service, Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk Project (PIER)
South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)
Search on species name, country,
habitat or organism type
Combination searches, taxonomic search, 100WW, Site index
Search on invasive mammals in USA
Includes species with USA eradication records (cattle, goats, etc.)
Search on “North America”
324 species that have been introduced to North America,
42 that include records stating that their origin is uncertain
56 that are native to North America and invasive somewhere else.
The Ecology Page
Short scientific name
Taxonomic name
Synonyms
Common names
Organism type
Summary
Images
Description
Similar species
Habitat type
Habitat description
General impacts
Uses
Notes
Geographical range
Invasion pathways
Dispersal methods
Management information
Nutrition
Reproduction
Lifecycle stages
Compiled by
Reviewed by
Principal Sources
Sudden Oak Death
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Helps to raise awareness about the highly destructive
Phtyophthora ramorum
Its recent discovery, its fungal morphology, symptoms,
and its high prevalence in nurseries
How it is spread by soil, water and tool vectors, the
trees it attacks and its consequences
Prevention and management options
Distribution page
Information that can help prevent
harmful introductions and spread
ISSG responds directly to requests
for information:
e.g. we recently provided 7
documents and references about
the prior invasiveness and impacts
of 4 aquaculture species in order to
limit their importation.
References for silver carp
(Hypophthalmichthys molitrix)
• Protocols for risk assessment and
identification of non-native fish
• Considerations for responsible
use of alien aquaculture species
Prevention is better than cure
Rat attacking New Zealand fantail
Photos: David Mudge
Alien jellyfish (Rhopilema nomadica)
Haifa Bay, Israel Photo: Bella Galil
References and links
Contact details
of experts
GISD and conservation activities
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Invasive alien species are a major threat to biodiversity, second
only to habitat destruction
They need to be actively managed in order to protect species,
habitats and ecosystems
Include IAS in your priorities
Preventing the introduction and spread of harmful
organisms:
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Increased awareness will reduce some intentional introductions
Pathway and vector information to manage hitchhikers
Decision makers need to be well informed
Practitioners need timely access to authoritative information
There is a need to create more profiles
Case studies, impacts, management
Share stories, techniques, expertise
You can find the GISD at www.issg.org/database
It is mirrored by the NBII at www.invasivespecies.net/database