The invasive but useful black locust trees in Europe
The black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) was first introduced to Europe from North America in the early 17th century and has become part of our cultural and ecological landscape.
CitizenScience [68]
AlienSpecies [41]
Catalogue [34]
IAS [33]
Biodiversity [31]
EURegulation [25]
JRC [23]
DataPartner [20]
IASApp [17]
EASINTeam [17]
Invasive [17]
EASIN [15]
The black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) was first introduced to Europe from North America in the early 17th century and has become part of our cultural and ecological landscape.
Biological invasions have become one of the main drivers of habitat degradation and biodiversity loss in island ecosystems worldwide, which are hot spots of biodiversity and contain rare habitats and endemic species. Small islands are particularly vulnerable to the threat of invasive species.
Celebrate World Environment Day (5th of June) by protecting European native biodiversity from invasive species! Your daily actions can prevent biological invasions.
Blue biotechnology is concerned with the exploration and exploitation of marine resources in order to develop new products with economic value, get new sources of energy, extract new active ingredients for pharmaceutical and industrial purposes or increase food supply.
Citizen Science programs aim at creating a bridge between science and the general public, actively involving citizens in research projects.
Many fish species undertake more or less extended migrations as part of their basic behaviour. Amongst the best known examples in Europe are salmon (Salmo salar), sturgeon (Acipenser sturio) and eel (Anguilla anguilla), which are diadromous species with their life cycle taking place partly in fresh water and partly in sea water, often swimming several thousands of kilometers to reach their spawning grounds.
Planted forests make significant contributions to the economy and provide multiple products and ecosystem services.
The Asian hornet (Vespa velutina), also known as the Asian predatory wasp or yellow-legged hornet, was first reported in Europe in 2004, in southwest France.
Following the Xylella fastidiosa outbreak in Italy’s main olive oil producing region, Apulia, research efforts have been directed towards assessing the susceptibility of different olive cultivars to the strain of X. fastidiosa consistently found in the Apulian outbreaks.
Pet trade moves thousands of species around the globe, opening the door to unwanted organisms being released into new environments, with subsequent adverse ecological and economical impacts.
The adverse effects that invasive alien species (IAS) can have on biodiversity, economy and human health requires concerted actions for preventing and mitigating the impact of these species.
In recent years, several vector-borne disease outbreaks have occurred in Europe, along with an increased establishment and spread of invasive mosquitoes.
Recreational fishermen can constitute an important source of data on alien fish species, analogous to citizen science, as fishermen now frequently share their experiences through online platforms (blogs, forums, social networks, fishery websites).
Road crossing can be a major threat to many pond-breeding amphibians that frequently encounter roads during their movement towards their breeding sites in spring.
Xylella fastidiosa is a vector-transmitted bacterial plant pathogen, causing a variety of diseases to a broad range of host plants, with huge economic impact for agriculture.