Public knowledge of alien species: a case study on aquatic biodiversity in North Iberian rivers

Abstract

Biological invasions have increased in recent decades due to globalization and human activities. These invasions are currently one of the main threats to biodiversity, and their early detection is essential for a rapid and effective response. Here, we explored the use of citizen science strategies to create an early alert to detect invasive species. Our main objective was to evaluate the general knowledge of volunteer participants of invasive freshwater species in Asturias (north of the Iberian Peninsula) and compare it with both real data from electrofishing surveys and official data from the regional government. A total of 140 volunteer surveys were conducted in four different rivers in Asturias. The largest group of participants consisted of males older than 50 years. Four species were identified as native to the four rivers: Anguilla anguilla; Mugil cephalus; Salmo salar; and, Salmo trutta. More than 50% of the native species surveyed by electrofishing were recognized by the locals in each river region. A total of 22.86% of the volunteers were able to correctly name an exotic species, and a total of 7 were correctly identified: Procambarus clarkii; Trachemys scripta; Cyprinus carpio; Esox lucius; Salvelinus fontinalis; Carassius auratus; and, Oncorhynchus mykiss. However, compared to the list of actual exotic species surveyed, less than 40% were recognized in the four rivers. Despite the poor correlation between local knowledge and real exotic aquatic fauna, citizens were able to detect one exotic species not yet found in the wild in this region (T. scripta). Finally, more than 70% of the volunteers were in favor of fighting against invasive species, although only 22.86% were able to identify any specific exotic species found in the region. The positive attitude to exotic species control was correlated with both the level of native species knowledge and the concern about the ability of exotic species to impact native fauna in the region. Better training will improve public awareness, reduce the nonintentional release of non-native species, and increase the detection of non-indigenous species. The attitudes of the citizens make the region a promising candidate for education efforts to reduce alien species introductions and help preserve fauna biodiversity.

Six years of controlling the invasive species Vespa velutina in a Mediterranean island: The promising results of an eradication plan

“…Public participation is increasing. They are collecting data for monitoring invasive species to detect early alerts, and also in not accessible areas by scientists, such as private ground or large landscapes 42 . Many citizen science programs are focused on invasive plants, 26 marine animals, 42 birds 43 and insects 44 .…”

Economic contribution and attitude towards alien freshwater ornamental fishes of pet store owners in Klang Valley, Malaysia

“…This follows the finding of Aminrad, Zakaria & Hadi (2011) , who identified that age and educational level influenced environmental awareness. This is likely because those with a higher educational background are more likely to have the opportunity of being exposed to information regarding the need for conservation making them better informed compared to the less educated individuals ( Clusa et al, 2018 ). In this study, the high proportion of respondents in the Bachelor’s category (>50%) who agreed that alien fishes should be allowed in Malaysia may be due to the low representation of this category in the sample.…”

Orthopristis chrysoptera (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Haemulidae): A new alien fish for the Mediterranean Sea

“…Furthermore, there is the need of improving the exchange of information between researches and "citizen scientists", in order to avoid that the alien species being released alive after capture, rather than retain them and hand them over to researchers for further analysis, as it has also recently happened in the harbor of Gioia Tauro (Tyrrhenian Sea) for Siganus fuscescens (Houttuyn, 1782) (see Azzurro and Tiralongo 2020). Furthermore, local ecological knowledge can also play a crucial role in monitoring and assessing the abundance and distribution of alien species (Clusa et al 2018).…”