Cabomba caroliniana found again in Belgium
Cabomba caroliniana (Cabombaceae: EPPO List of Invasive Alien Plants) is an aquatic fully submerged ground rooted species native to South America. In the EPPO region the species is established in Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (introduced into England). In Belgium, C. caroliniana has been reported from 1998, where the first occurrence was reported from an abandoned fishing pond in Holsbeek, province Vlaams-Brabant. This population disappeared following dredging and restocking of the pond in 2006. In 2013, a second population was found in the centre of the village of sint-Pauwels where the species occurs in an isolated 4 m-wide ditch and the population has persisted at this site until present. Although the authors consider the risk of C. caroliniana becoming widespread in Flanders as low, due in part to the lack of connectivity between waterways in the region, potential eradication and control measures are reviewed.
Sources
Scheers K, Denys L, Packet J, Adriaens T (2016) A second population of Cabomba caroliniana Gray (Cabombaceae) in Belgium with options for its eradication. BioInvasions Records 5, 227-232.