NeoBiota 69: 1-28 - Comparing environmental impacts of alien plants, insects and pathogens in protected riparian forests

Aug 25, 2026

Alien species prioritization based on environmental impact magnitude is essential for managing invasive alien threats in sensitive forest habitats. This study applied EICAT to classify alien taxa from plants, insects, and fungi across the Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere Reserve riparian forests. Using local expert knowledge, it compiled 198 alien species and assessed impact reports for 114, identifying multiple impact outcomes including local extinctions, population declines, and reduced performance. Fungi showed the highest reported impact, largely through competition and parasitism, supporting standardized screening for policy-relevant prioritization.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

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Pages28

Reading Time1 h 11 min

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NeoBiota 69: 1–28 (2021) doi: 10. 3897/neobiota.69.71651 [https://neobiota.pensoft.net](https://neobiota.pensoft.net) RESEARCH ARTICLE A peer-reviewed open-access journal NeoBiota Advancing research on alien species and biological invasions Comparing environmental impacts of alien plants, insects and pathogens in protected riparian forests Katharina Lapin 1, Sven Bacher2, Thomas Cech 1, Rok Damjanić3, Franz Essl4,5, Freya-Isabel Georges 1, Gernot Hoch6, Andreja Kavčič3, András Koltay7, Saša Kostić8, Ivan Lukić9, Aleksander Marinšek3, László Nagy 10, Sanja Novak Agbaba9, Janine Oettel 1, Saša Orlović8, Leopold Poljaković-Pajnik8, Markus Sallmannshofer 1, Martin Steinkellner 1, Srdjan Stojnic 11, Marjana Westergren3, Milica Zlatkovic8, Anita Zolles 1, Maarten de Groot3 1 Austrian Federal Research Centre for Forests, Natural Hazards and Landscape, Vienna, Austria 2 University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland 3 Slovenian Forestry Institute, Večna pot 2, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia 4 Umweltbundesamt, Vienna, Austria 5 Austrian Environment Agency, Vienna, Austria 6 Austrian Research Centre for Forests, Vienna, Austria 7 National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre, Forest Research Institute, Hegyalja u. 18, Mátrafüred, Hungary 8 Institute of Lowland Forestry and Environment, University of Novi Sad, Antona Čehova 13d, 21000, Novi Sad, Serbia 9 Croatian Forest Research Institute, Cvjetnonaselje 41, 10450, Jastrebarsko, Croatia 10 National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre, Forest Research Institute, Várkerület 30/a, 9600, Sárvár, Hungary 11 University of Novi Sad, Institute of Lowland Forestry and Environment, Novi Sad, Serbia Corresponding author: Katharina Lapin (katharina.lapin@bfw.gv.at) | Academic editor: Graeme Bourdot | Received 15 July 2021 | Accepted 13 September 2021 | Published 7 October 2021 | | --- | | Citation: Lapin K, Bacher S, CechT, Damjanić R, Essl F, Georges F-I, Hoch G, Kavčič A, KoltayA, Kostić S, Lukić I, Marinšek A, Nagy L, Agbaba SN, Oettel J, Orlović S, Poljaković-Pajnik L, Sallmannshofer M, Steinkellner M, Stojnic S, Westergren M, Zlatkovic M, ZollesA, de Groot M (2021) Comparing environmental impacts of alien plants, insects and pathogens in protected riparian forests. NeoBiota 69: 1–28. [https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.69.71651](https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.69.71651) | | Abstract
The prioritization of alien species according to the magnitude of their environmental impacts has become increasingly important for the management of invasive alien species. In this study, we applied the Environmental Impact Classification of Alien Taxa (EICAT) to classify alien taxa from three different taxonomic groups to facilitate the prioritisation of management actions for the threatened riparian forests of the Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere Reserve, South East Europe. With local experts we collated a list of 198 alien species (115 plants, 45 insects, and 38 fungi) with populations reported in southeast European forest ecosystems and included them in the EICAT. We found impact reports for 114 species. Eleven of these species caused local extinctions of a native species, 35 led to a population decrease, 51 to a reduction in performance in at least one native species and for 17 alien species no effects on individual fitness of native | Copyright Katharina Lapin et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. 2 Katharina Lapin et al. / NeoBiota 69: 1–28 (2021) species were detected. Fungi had significantly highest impact and were more likely to have information on their impacts reported. Competition and parasitism were the most important impact mechanisms of alien species. This study is, to our knowledge, the first application of EICAT to all known alien species of several

FAQs

What method was used to classify the alien taxa in the protected riparian forests?

The study applied the Environmental Impact Classification of Alien Taxa (EICAT) to classify alien taxa across three taxonomic groups.

How many alien species were compiled and how many had impact reports?

Local experts compiled a list of 198 alien species, and impact reports were found for 114 of them.

Which alien group had the highest impact and what mechanisms were most important?

Fungi had the highest reported impact and were more likely to have impact information. Competition and parasitism were identified as the most important impact mechanisms.

Aug 25, 2026

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