Argyro Zenetos, Konstantinos Tsiamis, Marika Galanidi, Natacha Carvalho, Cátia Bartilotti, João Canning-Clode, Luca Castriota, Paula Chainho, Robert Comas-González, Ana C Costa, Branko Dragicevic, Jakov Dulcic, Marco Faasse, Ann-Britt Florin, Arjan Gittenberger, Hans Jakobsen, Anders Jelmert, Francis Kerckhof, Maiju Lehtiniemi, Silvia Livi, Kim Lundgreen, Vesna Macic, Cécile Massé, Borut Mavric, Rahmat Naddafi, Martina Orlando-Bonaca, Slavica Petovic, Lydia Png-Gonzalez, Aina Carbonell Quetglas, Romeu S Ribeiro, Tiago Cidade, Sander Smolders, Peter AU Stæhr, Frederique Viard, and Okko Outinen (2022)
Status and Trends in the Rate of Introduction of Marine Non-Indigenous Species in European Seas
Diversity, 14(1077):1-50.
Invasive alien species are a major worldwide driver of biodiversity change. The current
study lists verified records of non-indigenous species (NIS) in European marine waters until 2020,
with the purpose of establishing a baseline, assessing trends, and discussing appropriate threshold
values for good environmental status (GES) according to the relevant European legislation. All NIS
records were verified by national experts and trends are presented in six-year assessment periods
from 1970 to 2020 according to the European Union Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Altogether,
874 NIS have been introduced to European marine waters until 2020 with the Mediterranean Sea
and North-East Atlantic Ocean hosting most of the introductions. Overall, the number of new
introductions has steadily increased since 2000. The annual rate of new introductions reached 21 new
NIS in European seas within the last six-year assessment period (2012–2017). This increase is likely due
to increased human activities and research efforts that have intensified during the early 21st century
within European Seas. As Europe seas are not environmentally, nor geographically homogenous, the
setting of threshold values for assessing GES requires regional expertise. Further, once management
measures are operational, pathway-specific threshold values would enable assessing the effectiveness
of such measures.
non-indigenous species; European seas; regional seas; MSFD; good environmental status;, validation; uncertainties
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