Linking the presence of invasive non-native species to measures of ecological quality
This project looked at what impact invasive non-native species have on the ecology of sites at which they are recorded.
Applies to England
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Invasive non-native species (INNS) are one of the biggest threats to biodiversity, undermining the inherent resilience of ecosystems and causing significant economic costs for sectors such as agriculture and fisheries. It is vital that any tools used to assess the status of ecosystems are accurate in their representation of the ecological reality
This project looked at what impact INNS have on the ecology of sites at which they are recorded. It also analysed whether tools the Environment Agency uses to assess the Ecological Quality Ratio of water bodies in England under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) reflect the impacts of INNS by asking the following questions:
- Is any effect of INNS reflected in measures of ecological status of a water body as measured by the WFD tools?
- Which WFD tools are likely to respond to each particular INNS species?
- Is it possible to identify when these biological tools may have ‘missed’ an impact or provided a false signal?