Assessing biofuel crop invasiveness in Hawaii (US)
There is growing interest in biofuels as a “green” and renewable solution to the world’s energy needs, particularly in the face of increasing cost and declining availability of fossil fuels. Some evidence suggests that biofuel crops are selected for traits that contribute to a higher probability of naturalization and invasiveness.
A list of 40 biofuel crops proposed for Hawaii (US) have been assessed through the adapted version of the Australian Weed Risk Assessment system (WRA) for Hawaii. For each plant assessed, the WRA system generates a score assisting policy-makers to determine if a plant can be introduced. If the score is higher than 6, the plant is rejected for import. If the score is lower than 1, the plant is accepted for import, and in between these 2 thresholds it is considered that the assessment could not be completed.
The result of the WRA system for the 40 biofuel crops with their intended use, known invasiveness elsewhere and occurrence in the EPPO region in the wild (this information does not consider whether the species is cultivated, only if it escaped and naturalized) checked in the EPPO PQR and DAISIE database are provided in the table below:
Biodiesel
|
Species
|
Inv.
|
Occurrence in EPPO
|
WRA
|
Risk
|
|
Aleurites moluccana (Euphorbiaceae)
|
Y
|
/
|
12
|
High
|
|
Arachis glabrata (Fabaceae)
|
N
|
/
|
-1
|
Low
|
|
Azadirachta indica (Meliaceae)
|
Y
|
/
|
10
|
High
|
|
Brassica napus (Brassicaceae)
|
Y
|
Widespread
|
16
|
High
|
|
Cocos nucifera (Arecaceae)
|
N
|
/
|
-4
|
Low
|
|
Copaifera langsdorffii (Fabaceae)
|
N
|
/
|
4
|
Incomplete
|
|
Elaeis guineensis (Arecaceae)
|
N
|
/
|
9
|
High
|
|
Euphorbia lathyris (Euphorbiaceae)
|
Y
|
Widespread
|
8
|
High
|
|
Glycine max (Fabaceae)
|
N
|
FR, Madeira (PT)
|
-3
|
Low
|
|
Helianthus annuus (Astercaeae)
|
Y
|
Widespread
|
10.5
|
High
|
|
Jatropha curcas (Euphorbiaceae)
|
Y
|
/
|
17
|
High
|
|
Linum usitatissimum (Linaceae)
|
Y
|
Widespread
|
9.5
|
High
|
|
Moringa oleifera (Moringaceae)
|
N
|
/
|
1
|
Low
|
|
Persea americana (Lauraceae)
|
N
|
/
|
3
|
Low
|
|
Pittosporum resiniferum (Pittosporaceae)
|
N
|
/
|
6
|
Incomplete
|
|
Pongamia pinnata (Fabaceae)
|
Y
|
/
|
9
|
High
|
|
Ricinus communis (Euphorbiaceae)
|
Y
|
Widespread
|
21
|
High
|
|
Simmondsia chinensis (Simmondsiaceae)
|
N
|
/
|
-3
|
Low
|
|
Triadica sebifera (Euphorbiaceae)
|
Y
|
/
|
14
|
High
|
|
Ulex europaeus (Fabaceae)
|
Y
|
Native in W-Eur.
|
20
|
High
|
Biomass
|
Species
|
Inv.
|
Occurrence in EPPO
|
WRA
|
Risk
|
|
Arundo donax (Poacee)
|
Y
|
Widespread
|
12
|
High
|
|
Calotropis gigantea (Apocynaceae)
|
Y
|
/
|
15
|
High
|
|
Cannabis sativa (Cannabaceae)
|
N
|
Widespread
|
11.5
|
High
|
|
Casuarina equisetifolia (Casuarinaceae)
|
Y
|
CY, Madeira (PT)
|
15
|
High
|
|
Eucalyptus globulus (Myrtaceae)
|
Y
|
Azores (PT), ES (incl. Canarias), GB, Madeira (PT)
|
10
|
High
|
|
Eucalyptus grandis (Myrtaceae)
|
Y
|
/
|
11
|
High
|
|
Eucalyptus robusta (Myrtaceae)
|
N
|
ES, PT
|
3
|
Low
|
|
Eucalyptus saligna (Myrtaceae)
|
N
|
/
|
7
|
High
|
|
Eucalyptus urophylla (Myrtaceae)
|
N
|
/
|
6
|
Incomplete
|
|
Fraxinus uhdei (Oleaceae)
|
Y
|
/
|
11
|
High
|
|
Macadamia integrifolia (Proteaceae)
|
N
|
/
|
-1
|
Low
|
|
Paraserianthes falcataria (Fabaceae)
|
Y
|
/
|
8
|
High
|
|
Prosopis juliflora (Fabaceae)
|
Y
|
/
|
19
|
High
|
|
Psidium cattleianum (Myrtaceae)
|
Y
|
Azores (PT)
|
18
|
High
|
Ethanol
|
Species
|
Inv.
|
Occurrence in EPPO
|
WRA
|
Risk
|
|
Leucaena leucocephala (Fabaceae)
|
|
ES (incl. Canarias), Madeira (PT)
|
15
|
High
|
|
Panicum maximum (Poaceae)
|
Y
|
/
|
17
|
High
|
|
Panicum virgatum (Poaceae)
|
N
|
/
|
11
|
High
|
|
Pennisetum purpureum (Poaceae)
|
Y
|
CY, Madeira (PT)
|
16
|
High
|
|
Pueraria montana (Fabaceae) (A2 List)
|
Y
|
CH, IT
|
24
|
High
|
|
Saccharum officinarum (Poaceae)
|
N
|
Madeira (PT)
|
-2
|
Low
|
Sources
Buddenhagen CE, Chimera C, Clifford P (2009) Assessing biofuel crop invasiveness: a case study. PloS ONE 4(4): e5261. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005261. http://www.plosone.org/article/info
Delivering Alien Invasive Species Inventories for Europe (DAISIE) http://www.europe-aliens.org/