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Using forest management to control invasive alien species: helping implement the new European regulation on invasive alien species

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Abstract

On 1 January 2015 a new European regulation on invasive alien species entered in force. Key aspects of this regulation are the adoption of a list of invasive alien species which are of European Union concern, the requirement for specific prevention measures, the establishment of early detection and fast eradication measures, and the management of the widely spread invasive alien species. We highlight the potential contribution of the forestry sector to promote the implementation of this regulation. There is a wealth of experience on positive and negative responses of invasive alien species to forestry interventions. This knowledge should be synthesized and further developed to help prevent and manage invasions in forests and adjacent habitats and to minimize the risks of invasive alien species. We thus recommend that decisions regarding the application of the regulation will include actors responsible for, or involved in, the management and use of forests and related semi-natural habitats.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Peter Annighöfer, Giuseppe Brundu, Piero Genovesi, Mario Pividori and two anonymous reviewers for commenting and advising on a previous version of this paper; and Daniel Hawtree for language revision. Thomas Campagnaro was supported by a PhD grant funded by the Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry of the University of Padova.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, Università degli Studi di Padova, 35020, Legnaro, PD, Italy

    Tommaso Sitzia, Thomas Campagnaro & Giovanni Trentanovi

  2. Department of Ecology, Ecosystem Science/Plant Ecology, Technische Universität Berlin, Rothenburgstr, 12, 12165, Berlin, Germany

    Tommaso Sitzia & Ingo Kowarik

  3. Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), 14195, Berlin, Germany

    Ingo Kowarik

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  1. Tommaso Sitzia
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Correspondence to Tommaso Sitzia.

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Sitzia, T., Campagnaro, T., Kowarik, I. et al. Using forest management to control invasive alien species: helping implement the new European regulation on invasive alien species. Biol Invasions 18, 1–7 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-015-0999-8

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