Updates on the baseline distribution of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (2019).
Date: 2019-05-13
Institutions: Joint Research Centre
Subjects: EU environmental policy, European Union, biodiversity, conservation of resources, ecosystem, environmental protection, invasive species, protected area, protected species, protection of animal life, protection of plant life, report

Updates on the baseline 
distribution of Invasive Alien 
Species of Union concern (2019) 

Tsiamis K, Gervasini E, Deriu I, Cardoso AC 

EUR 29726 ΕΝ 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This publication is a Technical report by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science 
and knowledge service. It aims to provide evidence-based scientific support to the European policymaking 
process. The scientific output expressed does not imply a policy position of the European Commission. Neither 
the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use that 
might be made of this publication. 

Contact information  
Name: Ana Cristina Cardoso 
Address: Via E. Fermi 2749 
E-mail: ana-cristina.cardoso@ec.europa.eu 
Tel.: +39 0332 785702 

EU Science Hub 
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc 

JRC116322 

EUR 29726 ΕΝ 

PDF 

ISBN 978-92-76-02062-2 

ISSN 1831-9424 

doi:10.2760/28412 

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2019  

© European Union, 2019  

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How to cite this report: Tsiamis, K., Gervasini, E., Deriu, I., Cardoso, A.C., Updates on the baseline distribution 
of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (2019), EUR 29726 ΕΝ, Publications Office of the European Union, 
Luxembourg, 2019, ISBN 978-92-79-02062-2, doi:10.2760/28412, JRC116322. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Contents 

Abstract ............................................................................................................... 1 

1  Introduction ...................................................................................................... 2 

2  New baseline data ............................................................................................. 3 

3  Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 7 

References ........................................................................................................... 8 

List of abbreviations and definitions ......................................................................... 9 

List of tables ....................................................................................................... 10 

i 

Abstract 

The  geographical  distribution  (baseline)  of  the  37  Invasive  Alien  Species  (IAS)  of  Union 
concern listed by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1141, under the frame 
of Regulation (EU) 2014/1143, was published in 2017 as a JRC science-for-policy report. 
It includes validated country level occurrences by 18 EU Member States (MS) Competent 
Authorities  and  validated  grid  level  occurrences  by  13  MS  Competent  Authorities.  Since 
then, three additional MS Competent Authorities (Bulgaria, Italy, and Luxemburg) provided 
validated  data.  Furthermore,  two  MS  Competent  Authorities  (Finland,  Cyprus) 
supplemented their data provided in the baseline. The current report includes the additional 
information provided by the aforementioned MS Competent Authorities. This information 
updates the information associated to the corresponding species and MS of the baseline of 
the  first  37  IAS  of  Union  concern.  This  updated  spatial  information  informs  the 
implementation  of  Art.  16  of  the  EU  Regulation  1143/2014,  dictating  the  mandatory 
notification  of  early  detections  of  listed  species  to  the  European  Commission  and  to  the 
other MS. 

1 

 
1  Introduction 

The EU Regulation no. 1143/2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction 
and spread of Invasive Alien Species (IAS) (EU 2014; hereinafter referred to as the IAS 
Regulation), which entered into force on 1 January 2015, gives priority at European level 
to  a  subset  of  IAS,  named  as  IAS  of  Union  concern  (Art.  4  “the  Union  list”,  hereinafter 
referred  to  as  IAS  of  Union  concern).  Species  are  included in  this list  inter  alia  because 
they can cause such a significant damage in Member States (MS) justifying the adoption 
of  dedicated  measures  at  Union  level.  The  list  of  IAS  of  Union  concern  has  a  dynamic 
character,  focusing  on  species  whose  inclusion  in  the  list  would  effectively  prevent, 
minimize or mitigate their adverse impact in a cost efficient manner (EU 2014). 

The  first  list  of  IAS  of  Union  concern,  published  with  the  Commission  Implementing 
Regulation  (EU)  2016/1141  of  13.07.2016  (which  entered  into  force  on  03.08.2016) 
contained  37  taxa,  including  both  animals  and  plants.  Subsequently,  12  IAS  of  Union 
concern were added in the Union list with the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 
2017/1263 of 12.07.2017 (which entered into force on 02.08.2017). 

Under  the  IAS  Regulation,  MS  must  prevent  the  introduction  and  spread  of  the  listed 
species,  enforce  effective  early  detection  and  rapid  eradication  mechanisms  for  new 
introductions, and adopt management measures for species already widely spread. 

The effective implementation of the IAS Regulation, in particular with reference to Art. 16, 
dictating the mandatory notification of early detections of listed species to the  European 
Commission  and  to  the  other  MS,  can  benefit  from  a  detailed  and  up  to  date  spatial 
information of the IAS of Union concern in the MS territories. Therefore, it is crucial to avail 
of a geographic baseline with the current distribution of the IAS of Union concern. To this 
end,  EU baselines of spatial  distribution for the  IAS of Union  concern  were published as 
JRC  science-for-policy  reports  based  on  data  aggregated  through  the  European  Alien 
Species Information Network (EASIN1) and validated by the MS competent authorities: 

1.  a  baseline  of  37  IAS  of  Union  concern  (Tsiamis  et  al.  2017),  based  on  the 

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1141 of 13.07.2016; 

2.  a  baseline  of  12  IAS  of  Union  concern  (Tsiamis  et  al.  20192),  based  on  the 

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1263 of 12.07.2017. 

Since the publication of the baseline report of the first 37 IAS of Union concern (Tsiamis et 
al. 2017) three additional MS provided data while two others delivered updated data on 
the distribution of several IAS of Union concern. 

The current report includes the additional spatial data on the distribution of several of the 
first 37 IAS of Union concern. This information updates the associated information on the 
corresponding species and MS of the first 37 IAS of Union concern (Tsiamis et al. 2017).  

1  EASIN  (https://easin.jrc.ec.europa.eu/)  constitutes  the  core of  the  information system supporting  MS  in  the 
implementation of the IAS Regulation (EU 2014, Art. 25). 
2With the exception of the species Nyctereutes procyonoides  

2 

                                           
2  New baseline data 

The  baseline  report  on  the  first  37  IAS  of  Union  concern  (Tsiamis  et  al.  2017)  includes 
validated country level occurrences by 18 EU MS Competent Authorities and validated grid 
level  occurrences  by  13  MS  Competent  Authorities.  Since  the  publication  of  the  report, 
three additional MS (Bulgaria, Italy, Luxembourg) provided validated data. Furthermore, 
two MS Authorities (Finland, Cyprus) supplemented data already given data in the baseline. 
In more detail: 

1.  Country level data that fulfill information gaps of the first baseline: 

Bulgaria: Pseudorasbora parva, present in Bulgaria since 1975 (Stefanov et al. 2018). 

2.  Grid level data (10x10 km) that fulfill information gaps of the first baseline: 

Cyprus: Procambarus clarkii and Trachemys scripta. 

Finland: Pacifastacus leniusculus. 

Italy:  Baccharis  halimifolia,  Callosciurus  erythraeus,  Ludwigia  grandiflora,  Myriophyllum 
aquaticum, Oxyura jamaicensis, Vespa velutina nigrithorax. 

3.  Grid  level  data  (10x10  km)  that  updates  the  corresponding  information  of  the  first 
baseline report on certain IAS and countries. The information in the report was based 
exclusively on EASIN data but it is currently endorsed by the relevant MS: 

Italy:  Eichhornia  crassipes,  Eriocheir  sinensis,  Hydrocotyle  ranunculoides,  Lagarosiphon 
major,  Lithobates  catesbeianus,  Ludwigia  peploides,  Myocastor  coypus,  Orconectes 
limosus,  Pacifastacus  leniusculus,  Procambarus  clarkii,  Procambarus  fallax  f.  virginalis, 
Procyon  lotor,  Pseudorasbora  parva,  Pueraria  montana  var.  lobata,  Sciurus  carolinensis, 
Tamias sibiricus, Threskiornis aethiopicus, Trachemys scripta. 

Luxemburg:  Orconectes  limosus,  Pacifastacus  leniusculus,  Procyon  lotor,  Pseudorasbora 
parva, Trachemys scripta. 

The  updated  spatial  information  of  the  above  species  at  grid  level  (10x10  km)  and  the 
original data sources are provided for each species and for each associated country through 
ArcGIS shapefiles. This information is directly provided through a web-link in the EASIN 
website (https://easin.jrc.ec.europa.eu/easin/Documentation/Baseline).  

The updated presence of the first 37 IAS of Union concern per EU MS, supplemented with 
the additional information provided in the current report, is presented in Table 1. 

3 

 
 
 
E 

E 

E 

C 

C 

SPECIES 
NAME 

Baccharis 
halimifolia 

Cabomba 
caroliniana 

Callosciurus 
erythraeus 

Corvus 
splendens 

Eichhornia 
crassipes 

Eriocheir 
sinensis 

Heracleum 
persicum 

Heracleum 
sosnowskyi 

Herpestes 
javanicus 

Hydrocotyle 
ranunculoides 

Lagarosiphon 
major 

Lithobates 
catesbeianus 

Ludwigia 
grandiflora 

Ludwigia 
peploides 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

Table 1. Status of the occurrence of the first 37 IAS of Union concern in the EU MS, in light of supplemented information from MS. E=established populations, C=casual 
occurrences. Information corresponding to grey-shaded indicates data coming only from EASIN datasets. In these cases there is no distinction between established and 
casual records (all marked as Present = “P”). For Trachemys scripta three subspecies are included: T. scripta scripta, T. scripta elegans, and T. scripta troostii. 

AT  BE 

BG 

HR  CY  CZ  DK  EE  FI  FR  DE 

EL  HU 

IE 

IT 

LV  LT 

LU  MT 

NL  PL  PT 

RO 

SK 

SI  ES  SE  UK 

E 

E 

E 

P 

P 

E 

C 

E 

E 

 P 

E 

P 

P 

P 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

C 

P 

E 

E 

E 

P 

P 

E 

E 

P 

E 

E 

E 

E 

C 

E 

C 

P 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

P 

P 

C 

E 

E 

C 

C 

E 

E 

P 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

P 

P 

E 

P 

E 

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P  

E 

E 

P 

E 

P 

P 

P 

E 

E 

E 

E 

P 

E 

E 

E 

P 

P 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

4 

P 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
Lysichiton 
americanus 

Muntiacus 
reevesi 

Myocastor 
coypus 

E 

E 

E 

C 

E 

E 

P 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

P 

E 

E 

E 

E 

P 

E 

P 

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P 

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P 

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C 

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C 

P 

P 

P 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

Myriophyllum 
aquaticum 

E 

E 

Nasua nasua 

C 

Orconectes 
limosus 

Orconectes 
virilis 

Oxyura 
jamaicensis 

Pacifastacus 
leniusculus 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

P 

E 

P 

E 

E 

P 

E 

E 

E 

P 

P 

E 

E 

E 

E 

Parthenium 
hysterophorus 

C 

Perccottus 
glenii 

Persicaria 
perfoliata 

P 

E 

E 

P 

P 

P 

E 

P 

P 

Procambarus 
clarkii 

E 

E 

E 

E 

P 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

P 

P 

P 

E 

E 

P 

P 

E 

Procambarus 
fallax 
virginalis 

f. 

Procyon lotor 

Pseudorasbora 
parva 

Pueraria 
montana  var. 
lobata 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

5 

E 

E 

C 

E 

P 

E 

E 

P 

P 

E 

E 

P 

P 

E 

E 

E 

E 

C 

E 

 P 

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E 

E 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Sciurus 
carolinensis 

Sciurus niger  

Tamias 
sibiricus 

Threskiornis 
aethiopicus 

Trachemys 
scripta* 

C 

C 

E 

 P 

E 

E 

E 

P 

E 

E 

C 

E 

C 

C 

C 

C 

E 

 P 

E 

E 

E 

C 

C 

P 

E 

C 

C 

C 

E 

E 

C 

P 

E 

E 

E 

E 

C 

E 

E 

P 

E 

E 

E 

E 

E 

C 

E 

P 

P 

E 

E 

C 

C 

Vespa velutina 
nigrithorax 

C 

E 

P 

E 

P 

E 

6 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
3  Conclusions 

The  updated  and  additional  data  presented  in  the  current  report  enrich  the  information 
included  in  the  distribution  baseline  of  the  first  37  IAS  of  Union  concern  (Tsiamis  et  al. 
2017). This baseline constitutes an important tool supporting the implementation of the 
IAS Regulation. The baseline data is crucial to track new detections of IAS of Union concern 
in  unaffected  areas  of  the  EU  territory,  in  relation  with  Art.  16,  which  dictates  the 
mandatory  notification of  early  detections  of  listed  species  to  the  European  Commission 
and  to  the  other  MS.  In  addition,  the  baseline  data  is  available  in  the  EASIN  website 
(https://easin.jrc.ec.europa.eu/easin/Services/Reporting), obeying to the format required 
by the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/14543, and can be reused by MS 
to comply with reporting obligations under Art. 24 of the IAS Regulation.  

It should be noted that although the updated baseline of the first 37 IAS of Union concern 
offers the best available information within the EU, it can be further enriched with additional 
information  from  the  MS  that  did not  provide  input  to  the  baseline.  New  contribution  of 
spatial data will be swiftly used to update the baseline.  

3 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2017/1454 of 10 August 2017 specifying the technical formats 

for reporting by the Member States pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 

7 

                                           
References 

EU. “Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the 
prevention  and  management  of  the  introduction  and  spread  of  invasive  alien  species”. 
Official Journal of the European Union L315 (2014); 35–55. 

Tsiamis, K, Gervasini, E, Deriu, I, D`amico, F, Nunes, A, Addamo, A, De Jesus Cardoso, A. 
“Baseline  Distribution  of  Invasive  Alien  Species  of  Union  concern”.  Ispra  (Italy): 
Publications Office of the European Union; 2017, EUR 28596 EN, doi:10.2760/772692 

Tsiamis,  K,  Gervasini,  E,  Deriu,  I,  D`amico,  F,  Katsanevakis,  S,  De  Jesus  Cardoso,  A. 
“Baseline distribution of species listed in the 1st update of Invasive Alien Species of Union 
concern”. Ispra (Italy): Publications Office of the European Union; 2019, EUR 29675 EN, 
doi:10.2760/75328. 

8 

List of abbreviations and definitions 

EASIN 

European Alien System Information Network (http://easin.jrc.ec.europa.eu/) 

EU 

IAS 

European Union 

Invasive Alien Species as defined in Art. 3 of EU Regulation 1143/2014 

IAS of 
Union 
concern 

Species  identified  according  to  Art.  4  of  the  EU  Regulation  1143/2014, 
requiring EU concerted action, published in the EU Commission Implementing 
Regulations 1141/2016 of 13 July 2016 and 1263/2017 of 12 July 2017 

IAS 
Regulation 

Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council 
of 22 October 2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction 
and spread of invasive alien species 

JRC 

MS 

Joint Research Centre Directorate of the European Commission 

Member States 

9 

 
List of tables 

Table 1. Status of the occurrence of the first 37 IAS of Union concern in the EU MS, in 
light  of  supplemented  information  from  MS.  E=established  populations,  C=casual 
occurrences. Information corresponding to grey-shaded indicates data coming only from 
EASIN  datasets.  In  these  cases  there  is  no  distinction  between  established  and  casual 
records  (all  marked  as  Present  =  “P”).  For  Trachemys  scripta  three  subspecies  are 
included: 
scripta 
troostii.…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..5 

elegans, 

scripta, 

scripta 

scripta 

and 

T. 

T. 

T. 

10 

 
 
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