1. ECOSTAT: Ad-hoc topic on alien species

2. ECOSTAT Work Programme
Objective 3 of ECOSTAT mandate:
“To compare approaches and promote exchange of experiences on development and application of monitoring and biological classification systems in the Member States”
Priority tasks on alien species:
Determine how to use alien species (AS) data in classifying ecological status
Evaluate the potential of existing alien species databases for compiling lists that can be used under the WFD
Link to the Invasive Species Strategy and parallel activities (e.g. MSFD)

3. Determine how to use AS data in classifying ecological status

4. Not tested = assumption
Evaluation AS capture efficiency of
WFD methods
Not tested = assumption
Source: Project WISER questionnaire

5. Test assumption: data Ecological status ° EEA >70,000 WBs
Occurrences of HI-IAS
° GBIF (n=28,482)
List of HI-IAS
° SEBI (n=163)
° UK TAG (n=34)

6. Test assumption: results

7. Country
Surface water category
Bad-mod
Good-high UK
Coastal waters
16.7
8.2
Lakes
9.2
3.7
Rivers
5.7
3.2
Transitional waters
28.5
24.2 NL
20.3
33.3
18.1
---- FR
0.5
0.4 SE
0.9

8. Recent evidence - macrophytes
LEAFPACS – macrophyte classification tool in GB
Outputs – range of metrics to reflect species composition, richness, abundance
Combined to produce an EQR

9. LEAFPACS assessments and alien species – EA study
7 high impact (HI) alien plant species listed by UK TAG (e.g. Crassula helmsii, Myrophyllum aquaticum)

10. LEAFPACS assessments and alien species – rivers
Only one species – Azolla filiculoides – can have direct effect on WFD classification
45 sites with HI species used in classification (2009)
Little difference in classification in water bodies with and without HI species

11. LEAFPACS assessments and alien species – lakes
Azolla filiculoides, Crassula helmsii + Myriophyllum aquaticum all scoring species
Mixed results – HI species in lakes more likely to affect WFD class than for rivers

12. Recent evidence - invertebrates
Study by Cambridge University on invasion by Dikerogammarus villosus (killer shrimp) in GB
Potential effects on biomonitoring
Effects of D. villosus on invertebrate classifications using RICT
Preys on high-scoring species – e.g. mayflies, blackflies, gammarids
Leads to reduction in ASPT scores in high and good rivers, inflation in scores in lower quality rivers

13. Conclusion from Cambridge report
“The potential effectiveness of current WFD monitoring strategies could be improved to include a measurement of bio-contamination within biological communities. These methods are being developed and their implementation in ecological monitoring being discussed. Generally evidence of bio-contamination (the presence of non-native species) within invertebrate communities reduces the resultant overall ecological status of the water body under assessment. Incorporating these methods may provide a more accurate assessment of ecological status”

14. Evaluate the potential of existing alien species databases for compiling lists that can be used under the WFD

15. Existing information systems: 43 online databases on aliens
Global and regional information systems
AVIBASE CABI-ISC EPPO PQR FishBase
Baltic Sea CIESM EU-BIRDS GISD
Caspian Sea DAISIE FAO-DIAS NOBANIS
Country-level databases
Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
Report on gaps and complementarity of existing alien species databases (EUR 24752EN 2011)
Are they sufficient/efficient to support European policies?

16. Assessment of the online databases
Various definitions of alien species (e.g. different cut-off dates)
Complementarity and gaps in existing online information systems
Different scope (geographical, taxonomic, etc.)
Lack of geo-referenced records
Variability in the quality of information (across countries, regions, environments)
Incompatibility among databases (e.g. nomenclature issues)
Not always regularly updated

17. http://easin.jrc.ec.europa.eu Search using complex queries
Officially launched on
12 September 2012
Current functionalities:
Search using complex queries
GIS mapping – from occurrences only, to aggregated maps

18. Valid names EASIN core catalogue EASIN web services Original names
Data Providers
Spatial data
EASIN web services
EASIN
Catalogue
Valid names
Original names
Synonyms
Taxonomy
Environment
Impact
Native range
Pathways

19. COST Action
Aims:
to increase harmonization of IAS data from distributed sources in support of the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy
to identify strategies for long-term maintenance of IAS data
to develop standard indicators for pathways and impacts, and standard protocols for risk assessments and data requirements (for pathways and impacts)
To collaborate with EASIN

20. Producing guidance

21. Previous proposals for what might be included in a guidance document
Terms and definitions
Creating WFD-specific lists of alien species
How to monitor and record alien species
Risk assessment
Assigning levels of impact to individual species

22. Relevant recent developments
First round of WFD status classification
Preparations for European legislation (EC directive?)
Work in JRC on harmonising alien species data (EASIN)
Bid for European COST project
New survey and research on alien species distribution and control
A need for guidance on alien species and the WFD

23. What do we need now? Terms and definitions (in the EC Directive?)
Creating WFD-specific lists of alien species
How to monitor and record alien species
Risk assessment
Assigning levels of impact to individual species
An outlet for publication (e.g. CEN? Other options?)

24. Conclusions
EASIN and COST (if funded) will deal with the data harmonisation issues
► still need to ensure that data on relevant WFD species are readily available
WFD classification tools are not performing well enough to detect all the problems from alien species
► this means either improving those tools or having an extra step in classification, as in the UK – or both
Need guidance at a European level on some of the alien species issues specific to the WFD
► guidance on using data, and consistent rules for how to categorise the impact of alien species, are still needed to help with WFD assessments