2023-09-05 11:50:08
Invasive plants block a river bed – IPBES
MADRID, 5 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Many human activities have introduced more than 37,000 exotic species in regions and biomes around the world, a serious global threat that is underestimated, according to a new study.
This “conservative” estimate, according to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) –author of the report–, it is now increasing at an unprecedented rate. More than 3,500 of them are harmful invasive alien species, which seriously threaten nature, the contributions of nature to people and the good quality of life. Too often ignored until it’s too late, invasive alien species are a significant challenge to people in all regions and in all countries.
Adopted on Saturday in Bonn, Germany, by representatives of the 143 IPBES member states, the Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species and their Control finds that, along with dramatic changes in biodiversity and ecosystems, the global economic cost of species invasive aliens exceeded 423,000 million dollars annually. in 2019, and costs have quadrupled at least every decade since the 1970s.
In 2019, the IPBES Global Assessment Report found that invasive alien species are one of the five most important direct drivers of biodiversity loss, along with changes in land and sea use, direct exploitation of species , climate change and pollution.
Based on this finding, governments commissioned IPBES to provide the best available evidence and policy options to meet the challenges of biological invasions. The resulting report was produced by 86 experts from 49 countries, working for more than four and a half years. It is based on more than 13,000 references, including very significant contributions from indigenous peoples and local communities, making it the most comprehensive assessment ever conducted on invasive alien species worldwide.
“Invasive alien species are a major threat to biodiversity and can cause irreversible damage to nature, including the extinction of local and global species, and also threaten human well-being,” he said. it’s a statement Professor Helen Roy (UK), co-chairs the assessment together with Prof. Aníbal Pauchard (Chile) and Prof. Peter Stoett (Canada).
The report authors emphasize that not all alien species become invasive: invasive alien species are the subset of alien species known to have established and spread, which causes negative impacts on nature and often also on people.
About 6% of exotic plants; 22% of exotic invertebrates; 14% of exotic vertebrates; and 11% of foreign microbes are known to be invasive and pose significant risks to nature and people. People with the greatest direct dependence on nature, such as indigenous peoples and local communities, are at even greater risk. More than 2,300 invasive alien species are found on lands under the administration of indigenous peopleswhich threatens their quality of life and even their cultural identities.
While many alien species were historically introduced intentionally for their perceived benefits to people, the IPBES report finds that the negative impacts of those becoming invasive are enormous for nature and people.
“Invasive alien species have been a major factor in 60% and the sole driver of 16% of the global extinctions of animals and plants we have recorded, and at least 218 invasive alien species have been responsible for more than 1,200 local extinctions. In fact, 85% of the impacts of biological invasions on native species are negative.“said Professor Pauchard.
Examples of such impacts include the ways in which North American beavers (Castor canadensis) and Pacific oysters (Magallana gigas) change ecosystems by transforming habitats, often with dire consequences for native species.
Almost 80% of the documented impacts of invasive alien species on nature’s contributions to people are also negative -especially through damage to the food supply-, such as the impact of the European coastal crab (Carcinus maenas) on hatcheries. shellfish trade in New England and the damage caused by the false Caribbean mussel (Mytilopsis sallei) to locally important fishery resources in India.
Similarly, 85% of the documented impacts negatively affect people’s quality of life, for example through health impacts, including diseases such as malaria, Zika and West Nile fever, transmitted by invasive alien species of mosquitoes such as Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegyptii.
Invasive alien species also damage livelihoods, for example in Lake Victoria, where fishing has declined due to depletion of tilapia, as a result of the spread of the water hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes), which is the invasive alien species. most widespread terrestrial in the world. The lantana (Lantana camara), a flowering shrub, and the black rat (Rattus rattus) are the second and third most widespread globally, with far-reaching impacts on people and nature.
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