How well do we understand the impacts of alien species on ecosystem services? A pan-European, cross-taxa assessment: Alien species impacts in Europe

International audienceRecent comprehensive data provided through the DAISIE project (www.europe-aliens.org) have facilitated thedevelopment of the first pan-European assessment of the impacts of alien plants, vertebrates, and invertebrates –in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments – on ecosystem services. There are 1094 species with documentedecological impacts and 1347 with economic impacts. The two taxonomic groups with the most speciescausing impacts are terrestrial invertebrates and terrestrial plants. The North Sea is the maritime region that suffersthe most impacts. Across taxa and regions, ecological and economic impacts are highly correlated. Terrestrialinvertebrates create greater economic impacts than ecological impacts, while the reverse is true for terrestrialplants. Alien species from all taxonomic groups affect “supporting”, “provisioning”, “regulating”, and “cultural”services and interfere with human well-being. Terrestrial vertebrates are responsible for the greatest range ofimpacts, and these are widely distributed across Europe. Here, we present a review of the financial costs, as the firststep toward calculating an estimate of the economic consequences of alien species in Europe