Non-indigenous insects and their threat to biodiversity and economy in the Balkans

Overview

Results

The team

Related information

So what's the problem?

Invasive alien species are recognized as one of the leading threats to biodiversity. They also impose enormous costs on agriculture, forestry and human health. In Europe and elsewhere, most countries are currently developing national and international strategies to assess the full scope of the danger presented by invasive non-indigenous species, and to take the necessary measures to prevent and manage the threat effectively. The initial step in a national programme against non-indigenous species must be an inventory of the species already established in the country and of those likely to invade in the near future, together with an assessment of their perceived, actual and potential economic and environmental impact.

What is this project doing?

The general objectives of this project - funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation under the SCOPES (Scientific Co-operation between Eastern Europe and Switzerland) programme - were to provide three countries (Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania) with information on invasive alien insects in the Balkans and to develop local expertise in the field of invasive alien species management. It is anticipated that fulfilling these objectives would facilitate the development of national strategies against alien insects, and non-indigenous organisms in general.

The first task of the project was to produce an inventory of non-indigenous insects in Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania, in collaboration with the EU 6th Framework Programme project DAISIE (Delivering Alien Invasive Species Inventories for Europe). The final Bulgarian, Albanian and Macedonian lists contain 270, 134 and 96 alien established insects, respectively. Next, we provided informative fact sheets for the 29 main invasive, or potentially invasive, insects in the region. Finally, we analysed the data to extract information on pathways, species or ecosystems traits that make them prone to invasion, and we incorporated these analyses into similar studies carried out as part of on-going European projects on risk and impact assessment. In addition, as a case study, we studied the impact of the horse-chestnut leaf miner, Cameraria ohridella, an invasive moth which first appeared in the Balkans in the 1980s before spreading to the whole Europe.

Results so far

The project ended in December 2008. The main achievement of the project was the production of a booklet on non-indigenous insects and their threat to biodiversity and the economy in Albania, Bulgaria and Macedonia. The booklet, entitled “Non-indigenous insects and their threat to biodiversity and economy in Albania, Bulgaria and Republic of Macedonia” is available in four languages and contains the main results of the project. This includes a list of all non-indigenous species present in the three countries, with notes on their biology, origin, occurrence; factsheets for 29 problematic alien insect species; and general sections on insects as invasive species, alien insects in the three countries, potential invasions, conclusions and recommendations. We expect that such a publication will raise awareness at various decisional levels on the issue of invasive species in the Balkan countries. We also hope that it will form the basis and initiation of new research activities focused on the management of invasive species in this region.

Project Manager