LIFE RESILIAS - LIFE19 NAT/NL/000821 - Making ecosystems resilient to Invasive Alien Species

1-set-2020

30-set-2027

https://www.resilias.eu/en/ https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/life/publicWebsite/project/LIFE19-NAT-NL-000821/making-ecosystems-resilient-to-invasive-alien-species

LIFE RESILIAS is a LIFE Nature project coordinated by Coöperatie Bosgroep Zuid-Nederland U.A. in partnership with Stichting Bargerveen, active from 2020 to 2027 in the Netherlands, with a total budget of approximately €3 million (EU contribution: €1.8 million). The project adopts a radically different approach to the management of Invasive Alien Species (IAS): instead of focusing on continuous control of the alien species, it acts on the resilience of the host ecosystem, strengthening native communities so they can autonomously resist invasion. The approach is being tested on four target alien species - Japanese knotweed (Fallopia spp.), black cherry (Prunus serotina), New Zealand pigmyweed (Crassula helmsii), and pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus) - in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats, inside and outside Natura 2000 sites.

Historical land use and current management practices, aggravated by environmental pressures of anthropogenic origin, have left many native ecosystems disturbed and species-poor. These ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to invasive alien species, as they lack the functional mechanisms - such as interspecific competition and predation - that characterise well-structured communities. The concept of ecosystem resilience as an IAS management tool is based on the empirical observation that species-rich and well-structured native communities are significantly less prone to invasion than disturbed and species-poor ones. When native species fully exploit available resources (space, light, nutrients), little margin remains for the establishment and dominance of alien species. Although this approach had already been successfully tested on a pilot scale for single species, its effectiveness was not yet widely known or systematically applied on a large scale.

• Spread of Japanese knotweed (Fallopia spp.) in river valleys and grasslands, favoured by soil disturbance conditions and high light and nutrient availability
• Invasion by black cherry (Prunus serotina) in forest ecosystems, where the species competes aggressively with native tree and shrub species, reducing their diversity
• Expansion of the invasive aquatic pigmyweed Crassula helmsii in wetlands, capable of rapidly colonising water bodies at the expense of native aquatic flora
• Presence of pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus), a non-native freshwater fish that alters the trophic balances of aquatic ecosystems where it is introduced
• Dominant management approach based on permanent and repeated control of alien species, which is economically and operationally unsustainable in the long term
• Low awareness among managers and policymakers regarding the importance of the receiving ecosystem's condition as a determining factor for the success or failure of a biological invasion

• Demonstrate the effectiveness of an IAS management approach based on improving ecosystem resilience, within a relatively short timeframe compared to traditional permanent management
• Test the approach on four target alien species (Fallopia spp., Prunus serotina, Crassula helmsii, Lepomis gibbosus) in different habitats (terrestrial and aquatic, inside and outside Natura 2000 sites, in early successional and climax stages) to demonstrate its wide applicability and replicability
• Prevent new invasions of the same species and other IAS through the structural strengthening of ecosystems
• Promote and replicate the approach on a larger scale, involving habitat owners, forest and nature managers, researchers, and policy development experts Secure stakeholder commitment to the approach, with at least 50 habitat managers engaged in preparing replication plans across 500 hectares
• Build a dedicated research network (ERA network) involving at least 50 researchers
• Translate results into policy recommendations at regional, national, and European levels

The LIFE RESILIAS project proposes an alternative approach to the management of invasive alien species: rather than directly combating the alien species through repeated control interventions over time, the project acts on the conditions of the host ecosystem, strengthening its resilience so that the ecosystem itself, through its functional mechanisms (resource competition, predation), can contain and reduce the invasive species in a lasting way.

In practical terms, this translates into targeted interventions aimed at reducing the availability of resources that favor the alien species while simultaneously enhancing competitive native species. For example, in the case of Japanese knotweed (Japanese knotweed), the project focuses on restoring moist soil conditions along riverbanks and reducing light availability, thereby creating conditions for greater abundance and diversity of native species that can effectively compete for space. In aquatic environments invaded by Crassula helmsii, the action combines reducing the coverage of the alien species with the active reintroduction of competitive native flora. For the sunfish (Pumpkinseed), reducing the non-native population is accompanied by strengthening native predators, which ensures long-term control.

The approach has been deliberately designed to demonstrate broad applicability and transferability: the project operates on four different alien species (two plants, one fish, and one aquatic plant), across both terrestrial and aquatic habitats, both inside and outside Natura 2000 sites, and at both early and climax successional stages. This methodological choice, oriented from the outset toward large-scale replicability (with explicit objectives to extend intervention areas well beyond the demo sites), together with the creation of a dedicated research network (ERA network), makes the project a methodological benchmark of significant interest for any IAS management strategy seeking to move from a model of perpetual control to one of structural prevention based on ecosystem health, in line with the objectives of EU Regulation 1143/2014 on invasive alien species.

• Increase in populations of native tree and shrub species and creation of 156 hectares of resilient forest ecosystems where Prunus serotina and Fallopia spp. cease to pose a threat to biodiversity, with replication started on a further 1,200 hectares of forest
• Reduction of settlement opportunities for Fallopia spp. through the creation of over 245 hectares of wet soil conditions along riverbanks, with reduced light availability and increased abundance and diversity of native species
• Reduction in IAS abundance and increased diversity of native herbaceous vegetation in 0.3 hectares of high-nature-value grassland, with replication started on a further 2 hectares
• Reduction of the Lepomis gibbosus population in 4 hectares of aquatic demonstration sites, with subsequent control by native predators and creation of resilient aquatic ecosystems
• Reduction of Crassula helmsii coverage across 4 hectares of demonstration sites, with restocking of competitive native flora and replication started on 40 hectares of wetlands
• Adoption of policy recommendations at regional, national, and European levels based on the ecosystem resilience approach
• Involvement of at least 50 habitat managers committed to preparing replication plans for the approach across a total surface area of 500 hectares
• Creation of a dedicated research network (Ecosystem Resilience Approach Network) involving at least 50 researchers to support the scientific dissemination of the approach

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