List of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern

Tim Adriaens1, Damiano Oldoni1

1 Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), , Belgium

Corresponding author(s): Tim Adriaens (tim.adriaens@inbo.be)Damiano Oldoni (damiano.oldoni@inbo.be)

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

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

Abstract

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).

Keywords: Checklist, Inventorythematic, invasive alien species, European Union, European Commission, risk assessment, Member States

Project details

Project title: Reaching Integrated and Prompt Action in Response to Invasive Alien Species (LIFE RIPARIAS)
Personnel: Tim Adriaens, Etienne Branquart, Peter Desmet, Dido Gosse, Jérémie Guyon, Damiano Oldoni, Lien Reyserhove, Sonia Vanderhoeven, Xavier Vermeersch
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 descriptions/descriptor: 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.

Data published through GBIF: https://ipt.inbo.be/resource?r=union-list

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: 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. 
Taxonomic ranks
Kingdom: Animalia, Chromista, Plantae

Spatial coverage

General spatial 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.

Coordinates: 34°37'59.82''N and 70°5'45.79''N Latitude; 10°28'42.8''W and 34°35'52.5''E Longitude 

Temporal coverage: August 3, 2016 - March 31, 2023

Methods

Method step description: 
- . 	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.
- . 	We developed a RMarkdown script to document and perform the transformation of the data to Darwin Core, which includes the following steps:
- . 	Generate stable and unique identifiers for each taxon (taxonID).
- . 	Create a taxon core file (http://rs.gbif.org/core/dwc_taxon.xml), with information about the higher classification and synonyms.
- . 	Create a vernacular names profile extension file (http://rs.gbif.org/extension/gbif/1.0/vernacularname.xml) with common names in multiple languages.
- . 	Create a description extension file (http://rs.gbif.org/extension/gbif/1.0/description.xml), with entry into force dates.
- . 	The resulting Darwin Core data files are uploaded to the INBO IPT and documented with metadata.
- . 	The dataset is published and registered with GBIF.
Study extent description: European Union.
Sampling description: 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.
Quality control description: See step description.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive List of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: https://ipt.inbo.be/archive.do?r=union-list
Publication date of data: 2023-03-22
Language: English
Licences of use: Public Domain (CC0 1.0)

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2023-03-19
Hierarchy level: Dataset