sábado, 6 de agosto de 2011

Environment Agency's 'hit list' of ten most invasive species - Telegraph.co.uk

Other animals on the hit list include the American signal crayfish, which are seriously endangering the smaller and less aggressive white clawed crayfish; topmouth gudgeon, a rapidly reproducing Japanese fish; and mink, which hunt fish, birds and small mammals, especially the water vole.

The most threatening plant listed is water primrose, which covers entire waterways in France and has been found at sixteen sites in England and Wales.

Floating pennywort, giant hogweed, Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam and parrot's feather complete the hit list.

Environment experts fear that rivers rife with invasive flora and fauna could fail to meet rigorous new EU targets on the ecological health of waterways.

Britain's rivers are in their cleanest state in more than 20 years, with some species such as otters and salmon even returning for the first time since the industrial revolution.

But alien species risk damaging the ecology of waterways by crowding out and killing native species, which can seriously harm the health of the entire ecosystem.

Rivers which do not meet the EU's targets, which include ecological health measures, by 2015 could attract fines running to millions of pounds.

The Environment Agency spends more than £2 million a year attempting to control invasive species, and a further £9 million of government funding has been dedicated to safeguarding waterways in England.

Trevor Renals, invasive species expert at the Environment Agency said: "River water quality is the best its been since before the industrial revolution. But if we don't control invasive species, we risk losing some of our precious native species and incurring even more clean up costs.

"We would urge everyone to help stop the spread of these species by making sure that garden and pond plants don't end up near rivers and parkland and thoroughly cleaning any fishing, boating and canoeing equipment when moving between waterways."

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