Invasive Alien Species (IAS) are commonly regarded as a major threat to the biological diversity on a global scale, second only to habitat loss. Although the problem is well recognised, concerted attempts to solve it have only been undertaken within last decades few years. Collection and dissemination of information on IAS are widely recognised as crucial components for solving the problems they pose.

In 1999, the database on species introduced into Poland was developed at the Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow for the Ministry of the Environment. In 2003, thanks to a grant from the US State Department, part of the data was translated and made accessible on the Internet.

In 2003-2009, as a result of cooperation between a group of experts, new species were included. Currently there are 1146 alien species of plants, animals and fungi in the database. Part of the detailed data relating to species is available. These include: pathway, place and time of introduction into Poland, current distribution, population trends and impact on native species, habitats and ecosystems. Necessity and methods of species control management are also assessed.

The Polish database became a part of NOBANIS (European Network on Invasive Alien Species; www.nobanis.org) which is an important gateway to data on invasive alien species in Northern and Central Europe. The database was also the main source of data from Poland provided for the DAISIE project (Delivering Alien Invasive Species Inventories for Europe; www.europe-aliens.org), whose aim was to develop a database of on all alien species in Europe. In 2009, the database structure was significantly changed, according to guidelines developed by GISIN (Global Invasive Species Information Network; www.gisinetwork.org).

The level of detail in species accounts in the database ranges from mere speciesname, to comprehensive datasheets. In future, new alien species will be added to the database and data concerning the species already recorded will be updated. We have made every effort to check the accuracy of the data. However, we are aware that there are mistakes and inconsistencies that were not avoided. Therefore please send any questions you might have and any comments concerning the database to:


Gatunki Obce w Polsce
Instytut Ochrony Przyrody PAN
Al. Mickiewicza 33
31-120 Kraków
ias@iop.krakow.pl
tel. +12 37 03 539

Definitions

Terminology on biological invasions is very complex and often inconsistent. Apart from „alien”, the species in question are referred to as „introduced”, „acclimatized”, „invasive”, „non-indigenous”, „allochtonous”, or „exotic”.

„Alien Species in Poland” follows definitions agreed by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and then implemented in the "European Strategy on Invasive Alien Species" adopted by the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention.

Alien species: a species, subspecies or lower taxon, introduced outside its natural past or present distribution; includes any part, gametes, seeds, eggs, or propagules of such species that might survive and subsequently reproduce.

Invasive alien species (IAS): an alien species whose introduction and/or spread threaten biological diversity. (For pragmatic reasons, in the database this group also includes alien species whose introduction and/or spread threaten economy and/or human health ).

Introduction: the movement by human agency, indirect or direct, of an alien species outside of its natural range (past or present). This movement can be either within a country or between countries or areas beyond national jurisdiction.

Collaborators

  • Wojciech Adamowski
  • Magdalena Bartoszewicz
  • Grzegorz Baś
  • Karolina Bącela-Spychalska
  • Paweł Bereś
  • Paweł Bielak-Bielecki
  • Wojciech Bielański
  • Edward Bobeł
  • Jarosław Buszko
  • Damian Chmura
  • Grzegorz Cierlik
  • Wojciech Czechowski
  • Przemysław Czerniejewski
  • Adam Ćmiel
  • Zygmunt Dajdok
  • Renata Dobosz
  • Ewa Durska
  • Maciej Gąbka
  • Joanna Grabowska
  • Michał Grabowski
  • Beata Jankowska
  • Marcin Kadej
  • Tomasz Kakareko
  • Sławomir Keszka
  • Stanisław Knutelski
  • Mieczysław Kosibowicz
  • Robert Kościów
  • Rafał Kowalczyk
  • Wiesław Król
  • Janusz Kupryjanowicz
  • Katarzyna Kurek
  • Andrzej Lasoń
  • Magdalena Lenda
  • Anna Maria Łabęcka
  • Jolanta Morozińska-Gogol
  • Kamil Najberek
  • Jan Nawrot
  • Mariusz Nietupski
  • Monika Normant
  • Wanda Olech-Piasecka
  • Leszek Orlikowski
  • Aleksandra Pępkowska-Król
  • Piotr Płonka
  • Magdalena Ptaszek
  • Robert Rozwałka
  • Bogdan Rudzionek
  • Mariusz Sapota
  • Ewa Sobecka
  • Wojciech Solarz
  • Agnieszka Staszczyk
  • Adam Stebel
  • Małgorzata Strzałka
  • Małgorzata Strzelec
  • Katarzyna Szorec
  • Piotr Ślipiński
  • Przemysław Śmietana
  • Krzysztof Tatoj
  • Edward Walusiak
  • Jan Warzocha
  • Andrzej Witkowski
  • Elżbieta Wojciechowicz-Żytko
  • Dan Wołkowycki
  • Katarzyna Zając
  • Roman Żurek