Invasive alien plants in wetlands: the importance of collaborations for implementing common strategies

Podda L.

;Cuena Lombraña A.;Fois M.;Marignani M.;Bacchetta G.

2023-01-01

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Abstract

Invasive alien plants are one of the main causes of biodiversity loss and species extinction and their spread is currently favoured by climate change and globalisation, which in parallel reduces the resilience of several habitats. The distribution of invasive plants is not homogeneous in all the world, certain regions are more affected than others, or, in a certain region, invasive species could turn out to be more abundant in certain habitats. Among the different invaded habitats, wetlands are the most susceptible to biological invasions. The comparison of these traits is essential for the study of invasive alien species in different wetlands of Mediterranean Basin. The aims of this study is to understand which are the most invasive species in wetland habitats, with particular attention to the areas belonging to Mediterranean islands, and the threats that such species represent to these areas, in order to prioritize and homogenise in situ management actions across the Mediterranean. This work will make a valuable contribution to development of task 1.4 “Identification of new IAS control processes and, where possible, eradication in Sardinian wetlands” within WP1 Protection and Valorisation of wetlands systems of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) Spoke 09 “Environment protection and valorisation”. The necessity of promoting more effective collaboration among different institutions from the Mediterranean is crucial in order to exchange good practices develop common strategies to eliminate/control the threat of invasive alien plants.