Checklist

List of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern

Latest version published by Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) on 22 March 2023 Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
Publication date:
22 March 2023
License:
CC0 1.0

Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:

Data as a DwC-A file download 98 records in English (20 KB) - Update frequency: as needed
Metadata as an EML file download in English (23 KB)
Metadata as an RTF file download in English (15 KB)

Description

The List of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (also called the Union list) is a species checklist dataset published by the Research Institute of Nature and Forest (INBO). This list contains regulated invasive alien species (IAS) that require action at European Union Level, and is at the core of Regulation (EU) 1143/2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of IAS (the IAS Regulation). The list has an evidence base in risk assessments, showing potentially significant adverse impacts on biodiversity or related ecosystem services. The species included on the Union list are subject to restrictions and measures set out in the Regulation. These include restrictions on keeping, importing, selling, breeding and growing. Member States are required to take action on pathways of unintentional introduction, to take measures for the early detection and rapid eradication of these species, and to manage species that are already widely spread in their territory.

The list is dynamic and is subject to regular updates when new species are added. Here, it is published as a standardized Darwin Core Archive and includes for each species: the scientific name, higher classification and stable taxon identifier (in the taxon core), the English, Dutch, French and German common names in line with www.iasregulation.be, the date of entry into force (the date the provisions of the Regulation enter into force for the species, as mentioned in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/141, 2017/1263, 2019/1262, 2022/1203). Issues with the dataset can be reported at https://github.com/riparias/union-list/issues. For more information on the EU IAS Regulation and the list of IAS of Union concern, please see the European Commission webpage on IAS (https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/nature-and-biodiversity/invasive-alien-species_en), the IUCN website on the IAS Regulation (https://www.iucn.org/our-work/topic/invasive-alien-species) and the European Alien Species Information Network.

We have released this dataset to the public domain under a Creative Commons Zero waiver. We would appreciate it if you follow the INBO norms for data use (https://www.inbo.be/en/norms-data-use) when using the data. If you have any questions regarding this dataset, don't hesitate to contact us via the contact information provided in the metadata or via opendata@inbo.be.

This dataset was published as open data for the LIFE RIPARIAS project (Reaching Integrated and Prompt Action in Response to Invasive Alien Species https://www.riparias.be/), with technical support provided by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO).

Data Records

The data in this checklist resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 98 records.

2 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.

Taxon (core)
98
VernacularName 
398
Description 
98

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Adriaens T, Oldoni D (2023). List of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern. Version 1.1. Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). Checklist dataset. https://ipt.inbo.be/resource?r=union-list&v=1.1

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). To the extent possible under law, the publisher has waived all rights to these data and has dedicated them to the Public Domain (CC0 1.0). Users may copy, modify, distribute and use the work, including for commercial purposes, without restriction.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 79d65658-526c-4c78-9d24-1870d67f8439.  Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by Belgian Biodiversity Platform.

Keywords

Checklist; Inventorythematic; invasive alien species; European Union; European Commission; risk assessment; Member States

Contacts

Tim Adriaens
  • Metadata Provider
  • Originator
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE
Damiano Oldoni
  • Originator
  • Point Of Contact
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
BE

Geographic Coverage

This checklist covers species that are non-native to the European Union. The aim of the checklist is to provide the Union list species openly on GBIF so they can be used for general reference, early warning systems, data extractions, baseline reporting, use in distribution and management reporting applications, feeding of policy indicators etc.

Bounding Coordinates South West [34.633, -10.479], North East [70.096, 34.598]

Taxonomic Coverage

This checklist currently (february 2022) includes 88 alien species from 3 kingdoms (47 animals, 40 plants, 1 chromista). We also included 10 commonly used synonyms.

Kingdom Animalia, Chromista, Plantae

Temporal Coverage

Start Date / End Date 2016-08-03 / 2023-03-31

Project Data

The spread of invasive alien species (IAS) is not hampered by administrative borders. Aquatic IAS, in particular, spread rapidly through the hydrographic network. To effectively control such species requires coordinated management at higher spatial scales. LIFE RIPARIAS (Reaching Integrated and Prompt Action in Response to Invasive Alien Species) aims to achieve such coordination across regional borders in Belgium, supported by open data and open infrastructure for early warning and management reporting. LIFE RIPARIAS aims at improving decision making on IAS management, early warning systems and management reporting tools. To this end, it develops an evidence-based workflow, translating national management objectives into concrete actions in an efficient manner. Ultimately the project aims at increasing the conservation status of aquatic and riparian habitats. More information on LIFE RIPARIAS is available at the project homepage: https://www.riparias.be/. You can also follow LIFE RIPARIAS on Twitter (@LIFEriparias) and Facebook (LIFE Riparias).

Title Reaching Integrated and Prompt Action in Response to Invasive Alien Species (LIFE RIPARIAS)
Identifier LIFE RIPARIAS
Funding LIFE RIPARIAS is co-funded by the three Belgian regions and the European Union in the framework of the LIFE Programme (LIFE19 NAT/BE/000953). It is running from 2021 to 2026.
Study Area Description Dijle, Mark and Zenne river basin of the Scheldt district, Belgium.
Design Description LIFE RIPARIAS focuses on aquatic and riparian plants as well as crayfish species located in the Dijle, Mark and Zenne river basin of the Scheldt district in Belgium. Cumulative observation data collected in 2000-2015, completed by data gathered from field surveillance in 2021-2022, will provide the baseline to design management objectives and define quantitative targets.

The personnel involved in the project:

Etienne Branquart
  • Author
Dido Gosse
  • Author
Jérémie Guyon
  • Author
Sonia Vanderhoeven
Xavier Vermeersch

Sampling Methods

This checklist is based on the consolidated version of the implementing regulations accompanying the EU IAS Regulation and updating the list of species of Union Concern, and carefully considering the appropriate taxonomy. The checklist contains the species of the fourth batch (third update) of the Union list (Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1203), including species with a future entry into force date because of a prolonged transition period. We published the list as mentioned in the implementing regulations which meant including the subspecies level (e.g. Vespa velutina nigrithorax), yet most occurrence data are published at species level on GBIF. Therefore, users are advised to carefully check the metadata of the datasets from which they intend to harvest data on Union list species.

Study Extent European Union.
Quality Control See step description.

Method step description:

  1. The source data for this standardized checklist is a text separated file, maintained by the Research Institute of Nature and Forest (INBO) and updated regularly at https://github.com/riparias/union-list/blob/main/data/raw/list_of_invasive_alien_species_of_union_concern.tsv.
  2. We developed a RMarkdown script to document and perform the transformation of the data to Darwin Core, which includes the following steps:
  3. Generate stable and unique identifiers for each taxon (taxonID).
  4. Create a taxon core file (http://rs.gbif.org/core/dwc_taxon.xml), with information about the higher classification and synonyms.
  5. Create a vernacular names profile extension file (http://rs.gbif.org/extension/gbif/1.0/vernacularname.xml) with common names in multiple languages.
  6. Create a description extension file (http://rs.gbif.org/extension/gbif/1.0/description.xml), with entry into force dates.
  7. The resulting Darwin Core data files are uploaded to the INBO IPT and documented with metadata.
  8. The dataset is published and registered with GBIF.

Additional Metadata

Alternative Identifiers 79d65658-526c-4c78-9d24-1870d67f8439
https://ipt.inbo.be/resource?r=union-list