Protected areas worldwide at risk of invasive species

Date:
June 8, 2020
Source:
University College London
Summary:
Protected areas across the globe are effectively keeping invasive
animals at bay, but the large majority of them are at risk of
invasions.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Protected areas across the globe are effectively keeping invasive animals
at bay, but the large majority of them are at risk of invasions, finds
a China-UK research team involving UCL.


==========================================================================
The research, led by the Chinese Academy of Science and published in
Nature Communications, show that for most protected areas, there is an
invasive animal species living less than 10km away that is well suited
to the protected area's environment.

Co-author Professor Tim Blackburn (UCL Genetics, Evolution & Environment
and the Institute of Zoology, ZSL) said: "One of the most harmful
ways that people are impacting the natural environment is through the introduction of 'aliens' - - species that do not occur naturally in an
area, but have been taken there by human activities.

"These species may kill or compete with native species, or destroy
habitats, amongst other impacts. Invasions by alien species are regarded
as one of the top five direct drivers of global biodiversity loss,
and aliens are establishing themselves in new areas at ever increasing
rates. Protected areas are a cornerstone of biodiversity conservation,
but aliens don't know where their boundaries lie. It's important to
know whether these areas might protect against the spread of invasive
species." The researchers investigated 894 terrestrial animal species (including mammals, birds, reptiles and invertebrates) that are known
to have established alien populations somewhere in the world.

They then assessed whether these species occurred within, or near, the boundaries of 199,957 protected areas across the globe, as defined by
the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), including
wilderness areas, national parks, and natural monuments or features.



==========================================================================
The team found that less than 10% of the protected areas are currently
home to any of the invasive species surveyed, suggesting that protected
areas are generally effective in protecting against invasive species.

But almost all of those areas may be at risk of invasion, as an invasive species was found within 100km of the boundaries of 99% of the protected
areas.

For 89% of the protected areas, there was an alien species resident
within 10km of the boundaries.

More than 95% of the protected areas were deemed to be environmentally
suitable for the establishment of at least some of the alien species
under investigation.

The researchers also investigated common factors among the protected
areas that are already home to alien species. They found that protected
areas tend to have more alien animal species if they have a larger human footprint index, due to factors such as transport links and large human populations nearby.

The researchers also found that larger, and more recently established
protected areas, tend to have more alien species. Older protected
areas tend to be in more remote areas, so they are less exposed to
human impacts.



========================================================================== Senior author Dr Li Yiming (Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of
Sciences) said: "At the moment most protected areas are still free of most animal invaders, but this might not last. Areas readily accessible to
large numbers of people are the most vulnerable." "We need to increase
efforts to monitor and record invasive alien species that people may
bring into protected areas, deliberately or by accident, especially
damaging species like the American bullfrog, brown rat and wild boar."
The findings do not suggest that the rich existing biodiversity in
protected areas acts as a barrier to invasions, as they found mixed
evidence on the relationships between existing native biodiversity and
presence of invasive species.

Professor Blackburn concluded: "If alien species continue to spread --
and we would expect many to do that -- many more protected areas will
have their boundaries reached, and potentially breached, by these
alien species." The research was supported by the Second Tibetan
Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) Programme, National
Science Foundation of China and Youth Innovation Promotion Association
of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Alien species commonly found in protected
areas include:
* Rock dove (Columbia livia): in 6,450 Pas such as Yosemite National
Park,
USA
* Ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus): in 4,822 PAs including
UK
sites such as Minsmere
* House sparrow (Passer domesticus): in 3,972 PAs such as Kruger
National
Park, South Africa
* Wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in 1,673 PAs including much of
Australia and UK, such as Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and
Cairngorms National Park
* American mink (Neovison vison) in 1,251 PAs such as Cairngorms
National
Park
* Brown rat, such as in Fiordland National Park, New Zealand * Stoat,
such as in Fiordland National Park * Red-eared Slider (Trachemys
scripta) in 164 PAs such as Singapore nature
reserves
* Cane toad (Rhinella marina) in 265 PAs such as Kakadu National
Park * Harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) in 2,686 PAs including
in southern
UK
The most invaded parks were all found in Hawaii: Volcanoes National
Park (80 species): Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge (63 species)
and Kipuka Ainahou (62 species)

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_College_London. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Xuan Liu, Tim M. Blackburn, Tianjian Song, Xuyu Wang, Cong Huang,
Yiming
Li. Animal invaders threaten protected areas worldwide. Nature
Communications, 2020; 11 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16719-2 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200608093000.htm

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