2018_12_11_CIE_especies_invasoras

The School of Sciences of the University of Navarra is one of the entities participating in the project LIFEInvasaqua, aimed at fighting against the proliferation of invasive species in the Iberian Peninsula through the awareness of society and administrations.

Along with the universities of Murcia -coordinator-, Santiago de Compostela and Évora (in Portugal), the EFE Agency (EFE Verde), the National Museum of Natural Sciences of Madrid, the CSIC, the association Portuguesa de Education Ambiental, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and the Iberian Society of Ichthyology are also part of this project .

Specifically, this project LIFE will focus on those invasive freshwater species that have spread through reservoirs, rivers and lakes in Spain and Portugal, causing serious environmental and economic problems. It is endowed with 3 million euros to carry out different actions from 2018 to 2023, with the goal to raise awareness, the training of the sectors involved and the creation of tools to respond to this growing problem.

In the case of the Autonomous Community of Navarra, experts from the University of Navarra participating in this project - professors and researchers from the School of Sciences Rafael Miranda, Javier Oscoz, Arturo Ariño, David Galicia - warn that the issue of invasive species already reaches 24: 12 would be fish, 1 mammal, 2 turtles, 3 crustaceans, a gill-nymph and 5 mollusks.

Among the fish, which are in the majority, we find the bleak, the black catfish, the goldfish or red carp, the common carp, the European pike, the gambusia, the sunfish or sun perch, the black-bass or American perch, the rainbow trout, the perch, the common rudd and the catfish. Among the mammals: the coypu - very present in the Bidasoa account, where it causes serious damage to native species and crops -; among the crabs are the red crab - which has occupied the middle and lower reaches and even lives in the ponds -, the signal crab and the Australian crab - the last to arrive and a new threat to the native crab, which is still in danger of extinction -.

Humans: main vector for the introduction and dissemination of invasive species

Among the mollusks, the Asian clam and the zebra mussel stand out. The latter is one of the species that is causing the greatest economic impact in the Ebro basin, for example. "There they calculated an impact - due to the obstruction of water conduction systems, irrigation systems, distribution pipes, etc. - of 13.7 million euros between 2001 and 2009. And they extrapolated it to 2025, reaching a cost of 105.5 million euros (7.2 million per year) to fight against its effects", emphasizes one of the researchers, Doctor in Biology Javier Oscoz.

Regarding the arrival and dissemination of these species in our environment, the main researcher of the Life Invasaqua node at the University of Navarra, Professor Rafael Miranda, assures that the main cause "is the human being. Sometimes voluntarily, due to the sporting or gastronomic interest of some of the species, and other times involuntarily. But, in any case, always causing a serious impact on the environment, the loss of diversity -many of these species alter the existing biodiversity and compete, with greater aggressiveness or with a more effective reproduction strategy, with native species- and a great economic impact", warns the expert.

List of invasive species in freshwater ecosystems in Navarre

Fish:

- Alburnus alburnus - Alburnus alburnus (Linnaeus, 1758)

- Black catfish - Ameiurus melas (Rafinésque, 1820)

- Red or goldfish - Carassius auratus (Linnaeus, 1758)

- Common carp - Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758

- European pike - Esoxlucius Linnaeus, 1758

- Gambusia - Gambusia holbrooki Girard, 1859

- Sunfish or sun perch - Lepomis gibbosus (Linnaeus, 1758)

- Black-Bass or American perch - Micropterus salmoides (Lacépède, 1802)

- Rainbow trout - Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum, 1792)

- Perch - Perca fluviatilis Linnaeus, 1758

- Gardí - Scardinius erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus, 1758)

- Catfish - Silurusglanis Linnaeus, 1758

 

Mammals:

- Coipú - Myocastor coipus (Molina, 1782)

 

Turtles:

- American terrapin - Trachemys scripta (Schoepff, 1792)

- False map turtle - Graptemys pseudogeographica (Gray, 1831)

 

Crabs:

- Red crab or marsh crab - Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852)

- Signal crab - Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana, 1852)

- Yabby or Australian crab - Cherax destructor Clark, 1936

 

Branchiobelidae:

- Xironogiton victoriensis Gelder& Hall, 1990

 

Mollusks:

- Potamopyrgus antipodarum (Gray, 1843)

- Ferrissia fragilis (Tryon, 1863)

- Physaacuta Draparnaud, 1805

- Asiatic clam - Corbicula fluminea (Müller, 1774)

- Zebra mussel - Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas, 1771)