Alien plants with potential impacts in Cyprus
In 2019, a workshop of experts on invasive alien species, prioritised species that may cause a threat to Cyprus. In total, 89 plant species were prioritised for their potential negative impacts by scoring their potential of arrival, establishment and impacts on human health and economies using a five-point scale. Eighteen alien plants are predicted to have the potential to be invasive (Table 1). In total 14 pathways of entry were identified for invasive alien plants (e.g. horticulture, contaminant of seed). Three alien plants (Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Delairea odorata and Parthenium hysterophorus) were considered a high threat as these species can negatively impact on both human health and economies.
Table 1. Alien plant species that can threaten human health and economies on Cyprus
Species | Family | EPPO listing |
Ambrosia artemisiifolia | Asteraceae | List Invasive Alien Plants |
Ambrosia confertiflora | Asteraceae | A2 List |
Ambrosia psilostachya | Asteraceae | ---- |
Araujia sericifera | Apocynaceae | Observation list |
Datura wrightii | Solanaceae | ---- |
Delairea odorata | Asteraceae | List Invasive Alien Plants |
Eichhornia crassipes | Pontederiaceae | A2 List |
Myriophyllum aquaticum | Haloragaceae | List Invasive Alien Plants |
Myriophyllum heterophyllum | Haloragaceae | A2 List |
Parthenium hysterophorus | Asteraceae | A2 List |
Pistia stratiotes | Araceae | A2 List |
Prosopis juliflora | Fabaceae | A2 List |
Salvinia molesta | Salviniodeae | A2 List |
Senecio inaequidens | Asteraceae | List Invasive Alien Plants |
Solanum sisymbriifolium | Solanaceae | Alert List |
Sphagneticola trilobata | Asteraceae | ---- |
Tamarix ramosissima | Tamaricaceae | ---- |
Verbesina encelioides | Asteraceae | List Invasive Alien Plants |
Sources
Peyton JM, Martinou AF, Adriaens T, Chartosia N, Karachle PK, Rabitsch W, Tricarico E, Arianoutsou M, Bacher S, Bazos I, Brundu G, Bruno-McClung E, Charalambidou I, Demetriou M, Galanidi M, Galil B, Guillem R, Hadjiafxentis K, Hadjioannou L, Hadjistylli M, Hall-Spencer JM, Jimenez C, Johnstone G, Kleitou P, Kletou D, Koukkoularidou D, Leontiou S, Maczey N, Michailidis N, Mountford JO, Papatheodoulou A, Pescott OL, Phanis C, Preda C, Rorke S, Shaw R,Solarz W, Taylor CD, Trajanovski S, Tziortzis I, Tzirkalli E, Uludag A, Vimercati G, Zdraveski K, Zenetos A and Roy HE (2020) Horizon scanning to predict and prioritise invasive alien species with the potential to threaten human health and economies on Cyprus. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.566281