{"id":64235,"date":"2025-09-14T21:52:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T21:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/64235\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T21:52:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T21:52:08","slug":"biodiversity-experts-plan-for-arrival-of-invasive-species-amid-rise-in-temperatures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/64235\/","title":{"rendered":"Biodiversity experts plan for arrival of invasive species amid rise in temperatures"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Biodiversity experts are drawing up plans to combat rising temperatures in Ireland which will likely lead to the arrival of more invasive species from warmer climates.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers will examine likely temperature changes on land and sea and then map the probability of invasive species coming here.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">The project, in its infancy, is being undertaken by officials working with the National Biodiversity Data Centre (NBDC) and scientists researching the impacts of global warming.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">The research began before the recent  <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishexaminer.com\/news\/arid-41702894.html\">invasion of the bee-killing Asian hornet<\/a>, but the arrival of that species is likely to give added impetus to the project.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">John Kelly, who leads invasive species projects for the NBDC, confirmed that developing a \u2018risk register\u2019 of the chances of non-native species arriving here will be undertaken to see what might be coming down the tracks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">It will not only inform experts but should also help to educate the public on potential risks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cIn New Zealand, the people there are very conscious of invasive species, and I\u2019d like to see Irish people to be as aware as they are,\u201d said Mr Kelly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Threats are coming from land, sea, and air and increased temperatures could also spark issues with indigenous species.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Potential early threats, apart for the Asian hornets, are bark beetles, which have now established themselves in Britain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">They can destroy whole forests, and Christmas trees are their favourite diet. A single pair can produce 3,600 offspring in a year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">They have flown into Britain from France and if they establish themselves in North Wales, they are just a short hop to Ireland.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">In Britain, sniffer dogs have been trained to detect them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu caption\">Tiger mosquitoes<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Kelly expressed concern about the expanding range of tiger mosquitoes, specifically the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus).<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Their bites can spread yellow fever and dengue fever, among other diseases. The mosquitos have also been linked to the zika virus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Mr Kelly said the mosquito needs a temperature of around 20C to 25C to survive and if milder winters arrive here, it could become a permanent resident.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cThere have been two sightings of these insects already in Ireland,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">These were possibly one-off sightings, and there is no evidence yet that they have multiplied and that they present an immediate threat, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu caption\">Invasive green algae<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Kelly said caulerpa taxiolia, a species of invasive green algae, is already prolific in the Mediterranean and if sea temperatures increase here, it \u201ccould take off in Irish waters, especially in bays\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">The algae can cause dense mats in waterways, making it almost impossible for water sports to continue, especially angling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">These mats of weeds provide a perfect habitat for mosquitoes to breed and thrive and spread serious diseases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Meanwhile, it is not just the foreign invaders we need to keep an eye out for, said Mr Kelly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Our native rat population could thrive if winter temperatures rise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Mr Kelly said if this happens, the multiplying population of rats will need more prey, which could be destructive to a lot of birds and small animals and lead rats into more conflict with humans as they invade properties scavenging for food.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Biodiversity experts are drawing up plans to combat rising temperatures in Ireland which will likely lead to the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[269],"tags":[45415,442,18,440,19,17,133],"class_list":{"0":"post-64235","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-sustainability-biodiversity","9":"tag-climate-change","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-science"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}