Science Facing Aliens - Invasive Alien Species in Belgium - Belgian ...

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86 country, by calculating the number of publications divided by population size in each country; residuals of the linear regression of the number of publications on country population size were used to this purpose. The second indicator reflects the impact of the publications, and is based on the “times cited” count, or the number of times a published paper is cited by other papers indexed in WoS (figure 5). The Belgian research on biological invasions We identified 56 research projects dedicated to biological invasions being conducted by Belgian scientists, from 1990 to 2009. As shown in figure 1, a rising interest in invasion ecology is manifest in the exponential growth of research projects related to invasive species since 1999. In addition to these 56 projects, an additional 22 projects involve invasive species in a more incidental way. They are related either to biodiversity monitoring activities or to pest control studies. Such projects are not considered in further analyses. 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1990 Number of research projects 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 Figure 1: Number of ongoing Belgian research projects dedicated to biological invasions since 1990. A majority of research projects (62 %) focus on invasive plants; vertebrates are considered in 23 % of the projects and invertebrates in only 15 % (see figure 2). There is no project in our BioBel database that deals explicitly with invasive micro-organisms, fungi or algae. Although non-native species are known to invade most ecosystem types in Belgium, research dedicated to biological invasions is mainly conducted on terrestrial ecosystems (67 %). Twenty-nine percent of projects target freshwater systems whereas only 4 % deal with marine areas. Invetebrates 15% Vertebrates 23% Vascular plants 62% Freshwater 29% Marine 4% Figure 2: Share of Belgian research projects dedicated to biological invasions between main taxonomic groups (left) and major ecosystems (right) Terrestrial 67%
Frequency 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1990 1992 Assessment Impacts Mechanisms Management Patterns 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 Frequency 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1990 Other BELSPO PhD grants Institutes Regions Figure 3 – Evolution of ongoing project frequency from 1990 to 2009, by research topics (left) and research funding sources (right). Two out of the five main research avenues (invasion patterns and management) are investigated since the early nineties and constitute the baseline of Belgian invasion ecology research. The three other research topics were developed progressively later on. Prediction and risk assessment studies are the most recent and least developed subjects (see figure 3). Different funding sources supported the Belgian research effort on biological invasions (1990-2009) to different degrees 25% of projects received funding from BelSPO, 25% concern PhD grants, 23% are funded by regional administrations, 18 % rely on core institute budgets, and the remaining 9% draw from from various other sources (see figure 3). International funding of the Belgian invasion ecology research was nearly absent during that period. Structural funding was available from regional administrations in charge of environment management and from biological research institutes (e.g. National Botanic Garden of Belgium, Research Institute for Nature and Forests, Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences), allowing the development of long-term monitoring and research programmes. On top of that, more focused initiatives were developed from 1999 onwards based on the work of research teams involved in BelSPO projects and of PhD students. Those studies often focused on invasion mechanisms and impact of biological invasions; they often produced innovative results to be published in international journals (see further). The implementation of the BelSPO “Science for a Sustainable Development” programme, which included invasion ecology as a priority topic, resulted in a significant increase in research efforts and acted as a strong catalyst for the development of invasion ecology science in Belgium. Belgian research in a European context Fifty years ago, the publication of Charles Elton’s book The Ecology of invasions by animals and plants (1958) launched the systematic study of biological invasions. However, biological invasion- related scientific papers only started to be readily produced some 30 years later, mostly emanating from the SCOPE programme on biological invasions. This programme 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 87 2008
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Science Facing Aliens Proceedings o
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Segers, H & E. Branquart (Eds). Sci
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Welcome to the World? Non-native br
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these geese species exchange betwee
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References Anselin A., Geers V. & K
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8 variables, hydro-morphological ch
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10 References Bollache, L., Devin,
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12 Figure 1 - USDA hardiness zones
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16 Appendix - List of non-native sp
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Impact of Fallopia spp. on ecosyste
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thermophilous grassland species. Ba
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Soil-dependent growth strategy of i
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Nr. of flowers/plant 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.
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Detection of intraguild predation b
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Adaline (µg) ± S.E. 2.50 2.00 1.5
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Measuring the impact of Harmonia ax
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Unidentified (9/20) Propylea 14-pun
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