Alien species

Invasive Alien Species (IAS) are animals and plants that are introduced accidentally or deliberately into a natural environment where they are not normally found, with serious negative consequences for their new environment. They represent a major threat to native plants and animals, causing damage worth billions of Euros to the economy every year.

They may lack natural predators in their new environments, allowing them to quickly increase their abundance and spread. They can carry diseases, outcompete or prey on native species, alter food chains, and even change ecosystems by, for example, altering soil composition or creating habitats that encourage wildfires. These impacts can lead to local or global extinctions of native species and eventual ecological devastation.