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Ornamental plants are introduced to new habitats when they are planted in gardens, where the maintaince creates the suitable conditions for them. Later, in natural habitats, they can easily occupy open niches by escaping from gardens and become invasive. This is the path taken by the great blanketflower, whose ecological effects have been studied by researchers at the Centre for Ecological Research.

The great blanketflower and its relatives are ornamental species planted all over the world. Its escape from gardens and establishment in new habitats have been reported in several countries, but its invasive behaviour has been unknown. However, this species has found suitable habitat conditions in Hungary and has become invasive in some places. Therefore, the researchers aimed to map the distribution of great blanketflower in Hungary, evaluate its impact on the local plant community and determine its invasive potential.

The distribution data show that great blanketflower occurs mainly as casual escapes, but a significant number of naturalised and invasive populations have been found within the country. The species spreads successfully mainly near gardens and disturbed or sandy habitats, but also occurs in semi-natural and natural grasslands. Its establishment has reduced the species richness of the local plant community. Its invasion is facilitated by its well germination capacity, long flowering period and spread by the fur of grazing animals. The great blanketflower does not yet appear to be a strong ecosystem transformer species, but more attention needs to be paid to it, as it could spread strongly and become invasive in the future due to drier weather caused by climate change.

The results of the research suggest that planting blanketflower species in gardens is not recommended, as they can easily colonise natural plant communities once out of the garden, and their sale in seed mixtures is not recommended. There is a need for a survey of great blanketflower and similar alien ornamental plant populations, their long-term monitoring and a more detailed evaluation of their invasion properties.

Publication:

Süle, G., Miholcsa, Z., Molnár, C., Kovács-Hostyánszki, A., Fenesi, A., Bauer, N., Szigeti, V. Escape from the garden: spreading, effects and traits. NEOBIOTA, 83 pp. 43-69. , 27 p. (2023)

Invasive plant species have a negative impact on local fauna, such as pollinating insects, by transforming vegetation and decreasing floral resources. In three recent studies, researchers from the Centre for Ecological Research and Babeş-Bolyai University have investigated the effects of twelve herbaceous invasive plant species with different characteristics on vegetation (Fenesi et al. 2023), pollinator communities (Kovács-Hostyánszki et al. 2022) and functional traits of pollinating insects (Szigeti et al. 2023). Their results suggest that plant invasions do not have universal effects, with a few exception e.g. reduction of native vegetation diversity. There are differences among the studied invasive plants for almost all investigated ecological indicators. From a pollinator point of view, invaded sites act similarly to oilseed rape or sunflower fields: during flowering they provide a large amount of food for pollinating insects compatible with the flowers of the invasive plants present there, while over the blooming period they are green deserts. Effective conservation actions against invasive plant species are also important for the protection of pollinators. In contrast, some invasive species can provide important food resources for even protected pollinating insects. Thus, instead of only eradication, important to consider the local and species specific situation, and also consider the needs of the associated pollinator species.

Publications:

Fenesi, A., Botta-Dukát, Z., Miholcsa, Zs., Szigeti, V., Molnár, Cs., Sándor, D., Szabó, A., Kuhn, T., Kovács-Hostyánszki, A. (2023). No consistencies in abundance-impact relationships across herbaceous invasive species and ecological impact metrics. Journal of Ecology;

Kovács-Hostyánszki, A., Szigeti, V., Miholcsa, Zs., Sándor, D., Soltész, Z., Török, E., Fenesi, A. (2022). Threats and benefits of invasive alien plant species on pollinators. Basic and Applied Ecology, 64:89–102;

Szigeti, V., Fenesi, A., Botta-Dukát, Z., Kuhlmann, M., Potts, S.G., Roberts, S., Soltész, Z., Török, E., Kovács-Hostyánszki, A. (2023) Trait-based effects of plant invasion on floral resources, hoverflies and bees; Insect Conservation and Diversity;

In a new study, the Mosquito Monitor Group has used a model-based approach to demonstrate that so-called “citizen science” data collected with the public’s participation can be used to draw scientific conclusions.

By “citizen science” or “community science” we mean scientific research that involves society in shorter or longer scientific projects, and in this way is able to collect large amounts of data efficiently and actively link science and the public. The Mosquito Monitor programme launched by the group is based on this approach, and for the fifth year in a row, the researchers are asking the general public to help them map the distribution of invasive biting mosquitoes in their country. There is no question that the programme is working well, with more and more mosquito reports coming in from all over the country every year, giving researchers an increasingly accurate picture of the presence of invasive species (Asian tiger mosquito, Japanese bush mosquito, Korean mosquito) in the country. In this study, after taxonomic verification of about 3,000 mosquito reports received so far (following the identification of mosquito species), the researchers investigated whether the data obtained reflect the reality, i.e. the true distribution pattern of the mosquito species searched for, and whether the data can be reliably used to draw scientific conclusions. By comparing the spatio-temporal patterns of occurrence generated from the reports, based on the presence/prevalence data of individual species, with the information collected by the researchers during direct field monitoring, it was concluded that the maps based on the reports correspond well with the results of direct field sampling using traditional trapping protocols.

Considering the amount of effort invested in sampling, the reports can be used to answer biological questions and draw scientific conclusions about the distribution of invasive biting midges. This can make national monitoring of mosquitoes significantly more effective, which is also of particular benefit for mosquito control programmes and for epidemiological risk assessment.

Publication

Garamszegi, L., Kurucz, K., Soltész, Z. Validating a surveillance program of invasive mosquitoes based on citizen science in Hungary. JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY (2023)

Short-term effects of control of the invasive plant (Asclepias syriaca L.): secondary invasion of neophyte plants instead of regeneration of native species.

In this study, we investigated the effects of the common milkweed, a perennial, vegetatively well-spreading invasive plant species from North America, on the main soil properties and vegetation composition in a field experiment on abandoned sandy old-fields in Kiskunság. We also studied the effects of mechanical control (cutting) of milkweed on other native and non-native plant species. We found that common milkweed invasion alters the composition of the vegetation, but had no effect on the basic properties of the soil. Short-term cutting (three years) decreased the cover of common milkweed, but native plants did not regenerate, and secondary invasion by other non-native plants occurred. This suggests that more time or additional treatments are needed for the native plants to regenerate after the invasive species has been controlled.

Publication:

Berki, B., Botta‐Dukát, Z., Csákvári, E., Gyalus, A., Halassy, M., Mártonffy, A., Rédei, T. & Csecserits, A. Short-term effects of the control of the invasive plant Asclepias syriaca: secondary invasion of other neophytes instead of the recovery of native species, Applied Vegetation Science, e12707.

The raccoon (Procyon lotor) is an alien species that is widespread in mainland Europe (e.g., France, Belgium, Germany, Poland). Populations originated from escaped pets and introductions. The raccoon is already confirmed in the fauna of Hungary. The spread of this invasive species from North America could threaten native ecosystems. For this reason, the 1st European Raccoon Conference was organised in Lyon, France, on 16-17 March 2023. At the meeting, the Invasion Biology Division of the National Laboratory for Health Security was represented by MATE with a presentation by Krisztián Katona and his colleagues.

The presentation summarized the most important knowledge on the occurrence of the species in Hungary to help future research and management of the species. According to the annual wildlife management reports available in the National Game Management Database (Csányi et al. 2022), the raccoon appeared in the hunting bag in 1998 with 9 individuals, and since then there have been a few hunted individuals per year. The most recent yearly hunting bag of raccoon was 19 individuals in 2021/2022. The occurrence of the species is sporadic, but most of the individuals were shot in the central part of Hungary, in Pest County. In the last two decades, there is evidence of occasional urban occurrence of the species in Budapest. In the framework of our invasive species project (RRF-2.3.1-21-2022-00006), funded by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, we are conducting research on the condition, reproduction and diet composition of the hunted individuals, we are analysing their genetic origin and relatedness, and investigating the nest predation and urban appearance of the raccoon.