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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Louise MairORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© Randall R. Jiménez et al. This is an open access article distributed under terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (Attribution 4.0 International – CC BY 4.0). Invasive alien species (IAS) are a major threat to global biodiversity. The total cost of biological invasions across all European Union member states has been estimated at 129.9 billion US dollars between 1960 and 2020. It is, therefore, crucial to implement effective measures for IAS management. In Europe, the overarching mechanism for this is established through the European Union (EU) Biodiversity Strategy 2030, which aims to halve the number of Red List species threatened by IAS by 2030, namely by stepping up the implementation of the EU IAS Regulation. To support the implementation of the strategy, we use the Species Threat Abatement and Restoration (STAR) methodology to identify and quantify opportunities to reduce species extinction risk in the EU by managing invasive alien species (IAS), focusing specifically on its threat abatement component (STAR-t). Using data from the European Red List on extinction risk, threats and distribution for terrestrial and freshwater species groups (both animals and plants) threatened by IAS, we identified key geographic areas and species for intervention. The countries and territories providing the largest opportunities to contribute towards reducing EU species extinction risk through managing IAS are the Canary Islands [Spain] (20.8% of total EU STAR-t attributed to IAS), Madeira [Portugal] (14.2%), mainland Spain (11.9%), Italy (9.3%), Azores [Portugal] (5.4%) and Greece (5.3%). For specific IAS, the greatest opportunities to reduce regional species extinction risk by mitigating threats from IAS come from managing feral goats (12.4%), mouflons (8.1%), rabbits (5.3%) and rats (4.6%). This work showcases the first application of STAR at a regional scale to measure opportunities for threat abatement caused by IAS and provides practical application in guiding the management actions with the highest conservation gains towards the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030.
Author(s): Jimenez RR, Smith KG, Brooks TM, Scalera R, Mair L, Nunes AL, Costello KE, Macfarlane NBW
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: NeoBiota
Year: 2025
Volume: 99
Pages: 109-129
Online publication date: 12/06/2025
Acceptance date: 05/05/2025
Date deposited: 30/09/2025
ISSN (print): 1619-0033
ISSN (electronic): 1314-2488
Publisher: Pensoft Publishers
URL: https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.99.148323
DOI: 10.3897/neobiota.99.148323
Data Access Statement: All of the data that support the findings of this study are available in the main text or Supplementary Information.
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