2023-09-06 01:26:27
Many human activities have introduced more than 37,000 alien species to regions and biomes around the world, a serious global threat that is underestimated, according to a new study.
More than 3,500 of them are harmful invasive alien species, which seriously threaten nature, nature’s contributions to people and the good quality of life.
This estimate “conservative“, according to Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) –author of the report–, is now increasing at an unprecedented rate. More than 3,500 of them are harmful invasive alien species, which seriously threaten nature, nature’s contributions to people and the good quality of life. With a lot of frequency Ignore each other until it’s too late Invasive alien species are a major challenge for people in all regions and in all countries.
Costs have quadrupled at least every decade
Adopted on Saturday in Bonn, Germany, by representatives of the 143 member states of IPBES, the Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species and their Control (1) finds that, along with dramatic changes in biodiversity and ecosystems, the global economic cost of invasive alien species exceeded 423,000 million dollars annually in 2019and costs have increased at least four times 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 lossalong with changes in land and sea use, direct exploitation of species, climate change and pollution.
Facing the challenges of biological invasions
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 prepared by 86 experts from 49 countrieswho worked for more than four and a half years. It’s based on more than 13,000 referencesincluding 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,” Professor Helen Roy (UK) said in a statement. , co-chair of the evaluation together with the Prof. Aníbal Pauchard (Chile) and Prof. Peter Stoett (Canada).
The authors of the report emphasize that not all alien species become invasive: Invasive alien species are the subset of alien species known to have established and spread, thus causes negative impacts on nature and often in people too.
About 6% of exotic plants; he 22% of exotic invertebrates; he 14% of exotic vertebrates; and it is known that the 11% of foreign microbes they are invasive and pose significant risks to nature and people. People with greater direct dependence on nature, such as Indigenous villages and the local communitiesThey are at even greater risk. More than 2,300 invasive alien species are found on lands under the administration of indigenous peoples, threatening their quality of life and even their livelihoods. cultural identities.
Historically Intentionally Introduced
While many alien species were historically intentionally introduced for their perceived benefits to people, the IPBES report finds that negative impacts of those that become invasive are huge 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.
North American beavers (Castor canadensis) and Pacific oysters (magellan gigas) change ecosystems by transforming habitats
Examples of such impacts include the ways in which North American beavers (Castor canadensis) and the Pacific oysters (magellan gigas) they change ecosystems by transforming habitats, often with serious consequences for native species.
Nearly 80% of the documented impacts of invasive alien species on nature’s contributions to people are also negative – especially through damage to food supply-, such as the impact of European coastal crab (Carcinoma maenas) in commercial shellfish hatcheries in New England and damage caused by false Caribbean mussel (Mytilopsis sallei) to locally important fishery resources in India.
Health impacts, including disease
Similarly, 85% of documented impacts negatively affect people’s quality of life, for example through impacts on health, including diseases such as malaria, Zika and West Nile fever, transmitted by exotic species of mosquitoes invaders As the tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus and the dengue mosquito Aedes aegypti.
Invasive alien species also damage livelihoods, for example in the lake Victoria, where fishing has declined due to depletion of the tilapiaas a result of the spread of water hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes), which is the terrestrial invasive alien species most widespread in the world. The lantana (Lantana camara), a flowering shrub, and the black rat (Rattus rattus) are the second and third most widespread worldwidewith far-reaching impacts on people and nature.
References (1) IPBES Invasive Alien Species Assessment. IPBES.
#Invasive #species #global #threat