Assessing the impact of alien plants in Turkey
Invasive alien plants can have a wide range of negative impacts on the environment, economy and human well-being. Identifying the species which have the highest negative impacts is important to prioritise these species for management and regulation. Using the Generic Impact Scoring System which was originally developed in a study on invasive mammals alien to Europe but has also been applied to other taxonomic groups, 51 invasive alien plants in Turkey were assessed. Data on each species was collected from a number of resources including ISI Web of Knowledge and a number of online databases. In total, 12 questions on impacts were scored (0-5 rating with 0 being no impact) where each question addressed impacts on the environment (for example impact through competition or impact due to hybridization) or socio-economic impacts (for example impacts on human health or impacts on forestry production). Environmental impacts were recorded for 80 % of the species assessed and were typically associated with impacts on ecosystem processes. Socio-economic impacts were identified for 78 % of the species and were typically associated with agricultural production or human health. Such exercises are useful when evaluating a large number of species and can provide a basis for more in-depth risk analysis.
Sources
Yazlik A, Pergl J, Pyšek P (2018) Impact of alien plants in Turkey assessed by the Generic Impact Scoring System. Neobiota 39, 31-51.