ParrotNet Jim Groombridge & Simon Tollington Zoe G. Davies European network on invasive parakeets

ParrotNet: What is the problem?  Parakeets are ‘Invasive Alien Species’ (IAS) in Europe  IAS are one of the many causes of biodiversity loss globally  Major risk to agriculture and society  Cost European economy € billion/year  Obligated to ‘manage’ IAS via a number of multilateral agreements  Urgent need for pan-European co-ordination to understand and manage associated risks

ParrotNet: What is the problem?  There are 13 invasive parakeet species established in Europe

ParrotNet: What is the problem?  Rose-ringed parakeet is the most widespread  One of the 100 worst IAS  Has taken Europe by surprise

ParrotNet: What is the problem?  Native range across African and Indo tropics

ParrotNet: What is the problem?  Spread has been facilitated by avian pet trade

ParrotNet: What is the problem?  Once a small number have established, population growth is explosive

ParrotNet: What is the problem?  Urban pests

ParrotNet: What is the problem?  Agricultural pests: In India - reduce yields of maize by 81% In Australia - severe damage to plantations (barley, nuts, all fruits) In Europe – highly ecological flexible and cause significant crop damage

ParrotNet: What is the problem? Parakeet abundance Nuthatch abundance  Detrimental impact on native species

ParrotNet: What is the problem?  Public love or loath them

ParrotNet: Why COST?  Plenty of research on parakeets, but a lack of cohesion across Europe  Urgent need to: Integrate natural and social science research Standardise existing data Upscale measurement of impacts Harmonize methodologies and data protocols Develop bespoke solutions that can inform policy effectively

ParrotNet: Aims of COST Help understand why parakeets are such successful invaders Be able to predict economic, societal and ecological impacts accurately Create a virtual European Monitoring Centre for monitoring invasive parakeets Transfer results to policy and management action

ParrotNet: Aims of COST Inter- disciplinary platform Regular meetings (physical and virtual) Short-term scientific missions Knowledge transfer at workshops, conferences Production of high- quality publications and outputs Creation of European Monitoring Centre Direct involvement of stakeholders Linking with non-EU countries (e.g. Indian Ocean) Outreach activities

ParrotNet: The Network Israel Humans and IAS (HUJ) IAS interactions (HUJ)  Austria  Turkey

Management Committee  Chair, Vice-Chair, Admin Officer, Working Group Chairs, STSM managers, two members/country  Physical meeting every six months (local support committee)  Virtual (Skype) meeting every two months Four Working Groups (WP 1-4)  Meet every six months  Organise two workshops  Allocate and manage two STSMs/year  Early-stage researchers encouraged to lead Thirteen Tasks  Each task has a scheduled milestone ParrotNet: The Organisation

ParrotNet: Dissemination Plans Who? European-level policy-makers National policy-makers Regional planners NGOs Research institutes Academia Biodiversity managers and practitioners Ornithological societies General public What? Website, published laymans summaries Annual reports networks (WGs) Information packs and factsheets Peer-reviewed publications Conferences linked to WGs Training workshops and STSMs Internet-based social media Smart technology Press releases How? ‘Dissemination Plan’ (reviewed and updated by MC) Website and EMC High-impact multi-authored publications Public engagement (open talks, conferences, citizen science schemes) Volunteer parakeet surveys (roost counts, garden experiments, feather samples)

ParrotNet: Dissemination Plans  Year 1 of ParrotNet 

ParrotNet: The Issues  Does not support primary research  Participants provide their time ‘for free’  Coordination of meetings at ‘good times’ for all  Core individuals will be generous with their support, time and effort  Requires excellent leadership and vision  Takes a lot of organisation - we have a 0.5 FTE Admin Officer  Dynamic: budget is not set from the outset and is revised annually, based on activities to be undertaken and number of countries in the network

ParrotNet: The Benefits  Large scale network funding  Great way to bring people together (who might not otherwise be able to)  Offers exciting opportunities for early career researchers  Excellent way to bring about ‘impact’ and ensure research has application to wider society  Way to build a network and target future Horizon 2020 funding