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Invasive Species Cause Huge Economic Losses to Central China Province

Posted on: Monday, 7 January 2008, 06:00 CST

Wuhan, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) - The number of invasive alien species has almost doubled over the past five years in central China's Hubei Province, bringing about hundreds of millions of yuan in economic losses a year, local authorities have said.

Agricultural scientists had discovered 73 harmful species alien to Hubei by the end of 2007, 35 more than that in 2003, according to an associate research fellow of the Hubei Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

"The situation is severe," said Wan Peng, of the academy's Plant Protection, Soil and Fertilizer Science Institute.

Ragweed, water hyacinth, alligator weed, and Bemisia tabaci pests were cited as the four most harmful alien species in Hubei.

"For instance, where there is water, there is alligator weed in Hubei," Wan said.

Native to South America, alligator weed has spread to many parts of the world. It is one of the world's worst weeds and can grow both on land and in water. In addition to farmland and market gardens, it threatens wetlands, lakes, dams, drains and other waterways by clogging them, increasing sedimentation and the risk of flooding.

An alien species, when invading a new environment without being monitored, is apt to proliferate and form a mono-dominant community, competing for living spaces previously enjoyed by local species. And their threats to ecological system are permanent, driving local species to extinction, Wan said.

"Hubei has to spend hundreds of millions of yuan every year to tackle the problems of invasive species," he said.

The Hubei provincial government, under order of state authorities, has launched a campaign to eradicate harmful plants of ragweed, water hyacinth and Eupatorium adenophorum since 2004.

Hubei revised a regulation on protection of agriculture and ecological environment last year, adding provisions for prevention and control of invasive alien species.

The next moves for Hubei are to establish a data bank of invasive alien species, improve the mechanism for species introduction and resources management and create a pre-warning system targeting alien species likely to proliferate in Hubei, Wan said.

Currently, species invade Hubei Province mainly via species introduction and transmission through seeds and tree seedlings, and species introduction is "the most dangerous channel," he said.

Local legislative body should promulgate laws and regulations soon to stop spread of harmful exotic species through introduction, he said.

"We need to strengthen the inspection and quarantine of species sold in markets and imported from abroad to prevent invasive alien species from entering China and doing harm to local species," he added.

Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

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