Global occurrences of alien aquatic plant species
Invasive alien aquatic plant species can have serious negative impacts on the habitats they invade and incur significant costs in management and restoration of invaded areas. Impacts have been shown on biological diversity, including outcompeting native plant species which can have impacts for higher trophic levels, and impacts on ecosystem services, from changing in nutrient cycling to degrading water amenities for recreation. A global assessment of alien aquatic plant species was conducted using data from the SynHab database, where records on the status (naturalised or invasive) was recorded from different regions. Of the 585 records in aquatic habitats, 458 referred to naturalised, non-invasive occurrences and 127 to invasive occurrences. The 10 families with the largest number of species with invasive and non-invasive occurrences were Hydrocharitaceae, Plantaginaceae, Cyperaceae, Poaceae, Araceae, Alismataceae, Onagraceae, Nymphaeaceae, Pontederiaceae and Salviniaceae. Twenty-one species had the highest number of records for invasive and naturalised occurrences globally (Table 1).
Table 1. Twenty-one aquatic plant species with highest number of naturalised and invasive occurrences
Species | Family | EPPO List | Origin |
Acorus calamus* | Acoraceae | Asia, North America | |
Alternanthera philoxeroides | Amaranthaceae | A2 List | South America |
Azolla filiculoides | Salviniaceae | North and South America, Antarctica | |
Egeria densa | Hydrocharitaceae | List IAP | South America |
Elodea canadensis | Hydrocharitaceae | North America | |
Elodea nuttallii | Hydrocharitaceae | List IAP | North America |
Hydrilla verticillata | Hydrocharitaceae | List IAP | Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia |
Lemna minuta | Araceae | Americas | |
Myriophyllum aquaticum | Haloragaceae | List IAP | South America |
Myriophyllum spicatum | Haloragaceae | Europe, Africa, Asia, North America | |
Nasturtium officinale | Brassicaceae | Africa, Asia, Europe | |
Nelumbo nucifera* | Nelumbonaceae | Europe, Asia, Australia | |
Nymphoides peltata | Menyanthaceae | Africa, Asia, Europe | |
Pistia stratiotes | Araceae | A2 List | Africa, Americas |
Pontederia crassipes | Pontederiaceae | A2 List | South America |
Pontederia vaginalis | Pontederiaceae | Asia, Australia | |
Potamogeton crispus | Potamogetonaceae | Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia | |
Sagittaria latifolia* | Alismataceae | Americas | |
Salvinia molesta | Salviniaceae | A2 List | South America |
Typha angustifolia | Typhaceae | Europe, Africa, Asia, North America | |
Veronica anagallis-aquatica* | Plantaginaceae | Africa, Asia, Europe |
L IAP = List of Invasive Alien Plants; * not reported as invasive in the publication
Sources
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SynHab Database: https://www.synhab.com/