How do alien species affect native biodiversity? The Species Data Bank has classified more than 1,000 alien species according to the risk they already pose - or may pose - to our native biodiversity.
Garden plants can do great harm
Our colleague Sofia Lund is an expert on vascular plants and has contributed to this work. It turns out that many of the plants now threatening native species are garden plants.
- Examples include bird's-foot trefoil and hedge barberry, which spread into the wild with the help of birds and outcompete other vegetation. Also, sea glass and skunk cabbage have spread from garden ponds and are now causing a lot of damage in watercourses and along shorelines," explains Sofia.
Most species pose no threat
To assess the risks, the project examined both the potential of the species to spread in our country and how they could harm or compete with our native species. Most of the non-native species have limited ability to spread and do not pose a threat to native biodiversity, but around 120 plant species are considered to pose a real threat to native species.
You can read the full report Risk qualification of alien species on the ArtDatabank website.
