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Seit 1890 wird die aus dem westlichen Nordamerika stammende Fabacee Lupinus polyphyllus Lindl. (Stauden-Lupine) in Deutschland beobachtet. Ihre großflächigsten Vorkommen in Deutschland finden sich derzeit in der Hohen Rhön im Gebiet Leitgraben/Elsgellen (407 ha: 1998 10,6 % Lupinus-Bedeckung). Dort werden fast alle Wiesen mit Auflagen des Bayerischen Vertragsnaturschutzprogramms bewirtschaftet. Dies bedeutet, zeitlich gestaffelte Pflegetermine zwischen 10. Juli und 31. Oktober (Abschluss der Pflegearbeiten), die den Zeitraum der Samenbildung von Lupinus vollständig erschließen. Nachweisbar ist, dass dort, wo innerhalb der Vertragsnaturschutzflächen Heugewinnung die primäre Motivation für die Nutzung ist - dies bedeutet Nutzung zum frühest möglichen Zeitpunkt - keine Lupinus-Etablierung nachweisbar ist! Neben rechtzeitiger Mahd ist Beweidung mit (Rhön-)Schafen geeignet, die Ver- und Ausbreitung von Lupinus einzudämmen. Auch dafür gilt, dass sie vor der Samenreife (ab Anfang Juli) von Lupinus durchzuführen ist, da reife Lupinus-Samen durch Schafe endozooisch ausgebreitet werden. Vegetationsaufnahmen von Kleinseggenrieden (Caricetum fuscae), Borstgrasrasen (Polygalu-Nardetum) und Goldhaferwiesen (Geranio-Trisetetum), in denen Lupinus polyphyllus mit höheren Deckungsgraden (> 25 %) vorkommt, belegen, dass die niedrigwüchsigen Arten der Krautschicht zurückgedrängt werden. Parallel dazu nehmen die kräftige Horste ausbildenden Gräser Poa chaixii und Deschampsia cespitosa zu. Eine Trennartengruppe mit den Ruderalarten Cerastium glomeratum, Galium aparine agg., Galeopsis tetrahit, Cirsium arvense und Urtica dioica charakterisiert die Lupinus-Fazies. Die Konkurrenzkraft der Dominanzbestände mit Lupinus erklärt sich über die Biomasseverteilung in Form einer umgekehrten Pyramide, die über Bestandeshöhe (zwischen 70 und 110 cm) und dichte Belaubung stark beschattend auf tiefere Vegetationsschichten (< 30 cm) wirkt, so dass deren Arten ausdünnen, wenn sie nicht die ausreichende Plastizität im Höhenwachstum besitzen, um mit Lupinus mitzuhalten. Auch andere Dominanzbestände-aufbauende Arten wie Impatiens glandulifera, Heracleum mantegazzianum und Reynoutria ssp. besitzen diese Eigenschaft und können aufgrund ihrer Wuchshöhe sogar die Funktion einer fehlenden Strauchschicht übernehmen.
Only a small proportion of introduced plant species become invasive and may eventually create ecological or economic problems. In many species it is still not clear which traits cause biological inva-sions. As a case study we focussed on the fast-spreading Epilobium brachycarpum in Central Europe to investigate the potential of this species to become a transformer or agricultural weed. We (1) documented the spread of the species in Central Europe, (2) modelled its range and (3) seed dispersal, (4) described its phytosociological alignment, (5) analysed the traits of invaded vegetation types, (6) described seed production, population densities and life cycle, (7) did competition and germination tests, and (8) drafted a risk assessment. Relevant traits and characteristics of E. brachycarpum are (i) formation of dense stands under ruderal conditions, (ii) high seed production, (iii) effective seed dispersal, (iv) high competitiveness on bare soils against other ruderal plants, and (v) ecological niche shift com-pared to its native range. We expect E. brachycarpum to settle in the Mediterranean, sub-Mediterranean and many parts of temperate Europe within the next decades in habitats strongly altered by human activities, especially open stands of the alliance Sisymbrion. We predict that E. brachycarpum will become a noxious weed in vineyards, and that it will also colonise vegetation of the alliances Bidention and Carici-Epilobion.
Communicating research with the public : evaluation of an invasive earthworm education program
(2013)
Ecologists are increasingly encouraged by funding agencies and professional societies to communicate their research with the public. However, most receive relatively little training in how to do this effectively. Furthermore, evaluation of whether such an investment by ecologists actually achieves conservation objectives is rare. We created an education program, involving print, television, radio, and internet media, to increase awareness about earthworm invasions and to discourage anglers from dumping earthworm bait. Using pre- and post-surveys, we evaluated our program’s success in reaching its target audience and in changing knowledge and behavior. Few participants (4.1%) recalled seeing the program material and knowledge of the fact that earthworms are non-native in Alberta remained low (15.8% before, 15.1% after). Further, after being told about the negative effects of earthworms in forests, 46.7% of the anglers surveyed stated they would not change their bait disposal behavior in the future, with many commenting that they did not believe earthworms could be harmful. These results highlight the importance of evaluating education programs, rather than assuming they are successful. Given many participants' doubts that earthworms have negative effects, both regulations and education may be needed to reduce earthworm introductions.
Increasing trends in global trade make it extremely difficult to prevent the entry of all potential invasive species (IS). Establishing early detection strategies thus becomes an important part of the continuum used to reduce the introduction of invasive species. One part necessary to ensure the success of these strategies is the determination of priority survey areas based on invasion pressure. We used a pathway-centred conceptual model of pest invasion to address these questions: what role does global trade play in invasion pressure of plant ecosystems and how could an understanding of this role be used to enhance early detection strategies? We concluded that the relative level of invasion pressure for destination ecosystems can be influenced by the intensity of pathway usage (import volume and frequency), the number and type of pathways with a similar destination, and the number of different ecological regions that serve as the source for imports to the same destination. As these factors increase, pressure typically intensifies because of increasing a) propagule pressure, b) likelihood of transporting pests with higher intrinsic invasion potential, and c) likelihood of transporting pests into ecosystems with higher invasibility. We used maritime containerized imports of live plants into the contiguous U.S. as a case study to illustrate the practical implications of the model to determine hotspot areas of relative invasion pressure for agricultural and forest ecosystems (two ecosystems with high potential invasibility). Our results illustrated the importance of how a pathway-centred model could be used to highlight potential target areas for early detection strategies for IS. Many of the hotspots in agricultural and forest ecosystems were within major U.S. metropolitan areas. Invasion ecologists can utilize pathway-centred conceptual models to a) better understand the role of human-mediated pathways in pest establishment, b) enhance current methodologies for IS risk analysis, and c) develop strategies for IS early detection-rapid response programs.
Dog-strangling vine (Vincetoxicum rossicum) is an exotic plant originating from Central and Eastern Europe that is becoming increasingly invasive in southern Ontario, Canada. Once established, it successfully displaces local native plant species but mechanisms behind this plant’s high competitive ability are not fully understood. It is unknown whether cooler temperatures will limit the range expansion of V. rossicum, which has demonstrated high tolerance for other environmental variables such as light and soil moisture. Furthermore, if V. rossicum can establish outside its current climatic limit it is unknown whether competition with native species can significantly contribute to reduce fitness and slow down invasion. We conducted an experiment to test the potential of V. rossicum to spread into northern areas of Ontario using a set of growth chambers to simulate southern and northern Ontario climatic temperature regimes. We also tested plant-plant competition by growing V. rossicum in pots with a highly abundant native species, Solidago canadensis, and comparing growth responses to plants grown alone. We found that the fitness of V. rossicum was not affected by the cooler climate despite a delay in reproductive phenology. Growing V. rossicum with S. canadensis caused a significant reduction in seedpod biomass of V. rossicum. However, we did not detect a temperature x competition interaction in spite of evidence for adaptation of S. canadensis to cooler temperature conditions. We conclude that the spread of V. rossicum north within the tested range is unlikely to be limited by climatic temperature but competition with an abundant native species may contribute to slow it down.
Invasive alien American bullfrog populations are commonly identified as a pernicious influence on the survival of native species due to their adaptability, proliferation and consequent ecological impacts through competition and predation. However, it has been difficult to determine conclusively their destructive influence due to the fragmentary and geographically dispersed nature of the historical database. An expanding meta-population of invasive American bullfrogs, Rana catesbeiana (= Lithobates catesbeianus), became established on southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada in the mid- to late 1980s. An on-going bullfrog control program begun in 2006 offered a unique opportunity to examine the stomach contents removed from 5,075 adult and juvenile bullfrogs collected from 60 sites throughout the active season (April to October). Of 15 classes of organisms identified in the diet, insects were numerically dominant, particularly social wasps and odonates (damselflies and dragonflies). Seasonality and site-specific habitat characteristics influenced prey occurrence and abundance. Native vertebrates in the diet included fish, frogs, salamanders, snakes, lizards, turtles, birds, and mammals, including some of conservation concern. Certain predators of bullfrog tadpoles and juveniles are commonly preyed upon by adult bullfrogs, thereby suppressing their effectiveness as biological checks to bullfrog population growth. Prey species with antipredator defences, such as wasps and sticklebacks, were sometimes eaten in abundance. Many prey species have some type of anti-predator defence, such as wasp stingers or stickleback spines, but there was no indication of conditioned avoidance to any of these. Results from this study reinforce the conclusion that, as an invasive alien, the American bullfrog is an opportunistic and seemingly unspecialized predator that has a uniquely large and complex ecological footprint both above and below the water surface.
The cladoceran Daphnia lumholtzi is a subtropical and tropical zooplankter, and an invasive species in North America. Thus far, D. lumholtzi has not been detected in Europe. Here we investigated whether a hypothetical introduction to Europe could result in a successful invasion, either now or in the near future when facilitated by climate change. In laboratory experiments, we tested whether different clones of D. lumholtzi can invade a resident community consisting of native Daphnia from lake Klostersee, Germany, and how invasion success depends on temperature and the presence or absence of planktivorous fish. In some treatments, invasion success was consistently high, and D. lumholtzi reached densities similar to the native competitors by the end of the experiment. The presence of a planktivorous fish reduced the invasion success of D. lumholtzi, and a clone with an inducible defense against fish predation was a more successful invader than a permanently defended clone. Of the three temperatures tested in this study (15, 20, and 24 °C), invasion success was highest at 20 °C. To understand the competitive interaction between native and introduced Daphnia, we fit a Lotka-Volterra-type competition model to the population dynamics. Our experimental and modeling results suggest that D. lumholtzi can invade European lakes and can cause substantial declines in the population size of native Daphnia, with potential consequences for higher trophic levels.
In the summers of 2006 and 2007 presumed bites of Cheiracanthium spiders triggered mass hysteria in Austria and some regions of Germany, including northern Saxonia. Here we report the first records of Cheiracanthium mildei L. Koch, 1864 from Saxony and new records of C. punctorium (Villers, 1789) from Saxony and Brandenburg. C. punctorium is probably a native species in southern Germany. It shows a moderate area expansion that could be driven by global warming. Further records in north-western Saxony are to be expected. By contrast, C. mildei has to be regarded an invasive alien species that has rapidly spread into Central Europe from the Mediterranean. Leipzig is the north-easternmost locality in Europe reached so far, a further 230 km away from Nuremberg, the leading edge in 2006. A number of records in different districts of Leipzig suggest that the species is already established in the town. We also report verified bites of both species. The mild to moderate symptoms are in accordance with recent literature reviews.
Der inzwischen auf der EPPO A1-Liste aufgeführte Quarantäneschädling, der Bockkäfer Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky, 1853), ist seit seiner Einschleppung nach Braunau am Inn (Österreich) im Jahr 2001 in ganz Europa ein Begriff. Neben zwei unabhängigen Fundorten in Frankreich, 2003 in Gien und 2004 in Sainte-Anne-sur-Brivet (Hérard & al. 2005) wurde eine Freiland-Population dieser Laubbäume schädigenden Art erstmals 2004 auch in Deutschland festgestellt. Bisherige Funde von Käfern in Deutschland waren auf das Gelände des Hamburger Hafens, Umschlagplatz vieler Container aus dem asiatischen Raum, beschränkt (Schliesske 2001). Es konnte aber nie eine Übersiedelung auf Laubbäume in der Umgebung beobachtet werden. Die Situation änderte sich gravierend, als offensichtlich befallene Bäume in Neukirchen am Inn (Gemeinde Neuburg am Inn, Landkreis Passau) in Bayern festgestellt wurden. Symptome wie mangelnde Belaubung, kraterförmige Eiablagestellen und Austritt von Bohrmehl an einem Ahornbaum deuteten auf Befall mit A. glabripennis hin. Nach Entnahme von Astteilen wurden in Gängen Bockkäfer-Larven gefunden, die von Kollegen des Bundesamtes und Forschungszentrums für Wald (BFW) in Wien mittels DNA-Analyse zweifelsfrei als A. glabripennis identifiziert wurden (Hoyer & al. 2003).
Anfang Mai 2004 wurden die ersten Anzeichen für die Einschleppung einer invasiven gebietsfremden Art, des baumschädigenden Bockkäfers Anoplophora glabripennis, nach Bayern festgestellt. Ein Ahornbaum am Rande des Parkplatzes vom Friedhof in Neukirchen am Inn (Gemeinde Neuburg am Inn, Landkreis Passau) wies verdächtige Symptome wie Fehlstellen in der Belaubung und kraterförmige Vertiefungen (Eiablagegruben?) in seiner Rinde auf. In unmittelbarer Nachbarschaft zum Friedhof liegt zudem eine Spedition, bei der Granitsteine und andere Granitwaren, teilweise aus dem asiatischen Raum, umgeschlagen bzw. auf Holzpaletten auf dem Betriebsgelände längere Zeit gelagert werden. Von diesem Ahorn wurden verdächtige Aststücke entnommen und im Labor an der Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft (LfL) in Freising vorsichtig aufgespalten. Es fanden sich Bohrgänge und Bockkäferlarven, die jedoch eine unterschiedliche Größe aufwiesen. Die dorsale Chitinplatte der Vorderbrust hatte aber die typische burgzinnenartige Form, die als morphologisches Bestimmungskriterium von A. glabripennis in der Literatur angegeben wird (HOYER et al. 2003). Zur eindeutigen Absicherung wurden die Larven an das Bundesamt und Forschungszentrum für Wald (BFW) in Wien geschickt. Die Kolleginnen und Kollegen aus Österreich hatten aufgrund des aufsehenerregenden Fundes von A. glabripennis in Braunau am Inn (Erstfund für Europa, 2001) inzwischen die größte Erfahrung in der sicheren Diagnose des Asiatischen Laubholzbockkäfers. Da bereits damals eine erhöhte Gefahr des „unerlaubten Grenzübertrittes“ ins 300 m entfernte bayerische Simbach am Inn bestand, waren schon Kontakte geknüpft und es wurde auch kollegiale Hilfe angeboten. Die schnelle und unbürokratische Hilfe führte beim Verdachtsfall in Neukirchen am Inn zu einer raschen Aufklärung. Über eine DNA-Analyse mittels PCR konnte in Wien innerhalb kürzester Zeit bestätigt werden, dass es sich bei den Larven um A. glabripennis handelte. Mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit stand auch fest, dass der Einschleppungsweg über die asiatischen Holzpaletten der Spedition abgelaufen sein musste. Wenn man eine einjährige Generationsdauer des Käfers in Mitteleuropa voraussetzt, dann war das Einschleppungsjahr 2003. Da aber bei den meisten Wirtsbäumen inzwischen sogar ein zweijähriger Zyklus angedacht wird, war die Einschleppung vermutlich schon 2002.