💾 Archived View for eir.mooo.com › nuacht › cilld172037161516.gmi captured on 2024-07-09 at 01:46:51. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Niamh O'Donoghue, 7 Jul
An invasive species is an organism that is not indigenous, or native,
to a particular area. Following their introduction, invasive species
often compete with existing native species of plant and animals,
limiting resources, altering habitats and reducing native biodiversity.
While some invasive species were introduced to gardens for ornamental
purposes, some invasive species were also accidentally introduced as
they came in as contaminants on products or got a ‘lift’ from a
vehicle.
Invasive species Ireland, managed by the National Biodiversity Data
Centre, provide national coordination and management of information on
Ireland’s non-native invasive species, and to support the National
Parks and Wildlife Service with the implementation and reporting on the
EU Invasive Alien Regulations (1143/2014). Species categorised as
invasive are done so based on a risk assessment. One plant that was
introduced to Ireland over 50 years ago for ornamental purposes, and is
not considered a high risk invasive species, is giant hogweed (Feabhrán
capaill as Gaeilge).
Giant hogweed was introduced from the Caucasus, a transcontinental
region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. You may
typically find it growing in damp, open margins of river banks where
its seeds can readily disperse downstream but, increasingly, it is
found at field boundaries and along road verges. Giant hogweed can grow
up to five metres tall, with rough serrated leaves one and a half
metres wide, and large umbrella-like cream-white flowers that can yield
many tens of thousands of viable seeds.
Giant hogweed is known to inflict horrible blisters or burns on anyone
unwise enough to touch it. Its size shades native plants, eventually
killing them, this in turn can lead to erosion along the banks of
rivers as giant hogweed is a perennial plant, which dies back in winter
leaving no native vegetation to protect the bank edges.
If you identify invasive species in your community please do not
disturb it. To learn more and report your invasive species record visit
www.invasives.ie.
If you would like help identifying a wildlife observation in your
community you can contact me on bogs@ipcc.ie.
- Nuala Madigan from the Bog of Allen Nature Centre