Marika GALANIDI, AISSI M., ALI M., BAKALEM A., BARICHE M.,
BARTOLO A., BAZAIRI H., BEQIRAJ S., BILECENOĞLU M., BUGEJA M.,
CARBONELL A., CASTRIOTA L., CHALABI A., ÇINAR M.E., DRAGIČEVIĆ
B., DULČIĆ J., EL HAWEET A., FARRAG M., GALIL B., GUERIN L.,
HYAMS-KAPHZAN O., KAPEDANI R., KAMBERI E., LIVI S., MASSE C.,
MAVRIČ B., OUERGHI A., PETOVIC S., PNG-GONZALEZ L., RIZZO M.,
ROMDHANE M.S., SHENKAR N., SHAKMAN E., YAHYAOUI A., YOKEŞ M.,
ZENETOS A.
ÜEE LLC, Marine Ecology Division, Teknopark Izmir A1/49, Urla 35437, Turkey
E-mail: marika.galanidi@gmail.com
REFINED AND UPDATED NON-INDIGENOUS SPECIES
BASELINES FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA AT THE
NATIONAL, SUB-REGIONAL AND NATIONAL LEVEL IN THE
CONTEXT OF THE BARCELONA CONVENTION’S
INTEGRATED MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT PROGRAMME
(IMAP)
Abstract
This work aimed to collect the available material on the presence of marine Non-Indigenous
Species (NIS) in the Mediterranean countries starting with existing national inventories and
updating with new species records observed until December 2020 and other taxonomic and
status amendments as appropriate. The final outcome is the result of a collaborative process
between national and regional experts, involving detailed exchange of information and the
building of consensus on the final lists to be used as the baselines for the implementation of the
Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme for the Mediterranean. (IMAP). In total,
1011 non-indigenous species have been found in Mediterranean marine waters, of which 748
are currently considered established. The highest number of species is observed in Israel,
Turkey, Lebanon and Italy. Approximately 50 species were categorized as Data Deficient, either
due to lack of consensus on their alien status or the validity of their identification. Polychaeta
and Foraminifera were the taxonomic groups with the highest number of controversial species.
There was a general increase in the yearly rate of new NIS introductions after the late 1990’s,
which appears to be slowing down in the last decade. The refined NIS inventories are an
important step for the full operationalization of the Common Indicator 6 for alien species in the
context of IMAP.
Key-words: Barcelona Convention, IMAP, NIS Baseline; Mediterranean; trends indicator
Introduction
Non-indigenous, invasive species are globally acknowledged as one of the major threats
to biodiversity, ecosystems and the services they provide (CBD, 2010; EU, 2011). As a
consequence, they constitute one of the elements that are taken into consideration when
assessing the health of the environment and formulating management strategies in order
to achieve and sustain good ecological status (EU, 2008; UNEP/MAP, 2016). In the
framework of the Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme for the
Mediterranean Sea (IMAP), NIS are addressed with Common Indicator 6 (CI6), which
assesses “Trends in abundance, temporal occurrence, and spatial distribution of non2nd Mediterranean Symposium on the Non-Indigenous Species (Genoa, Italy, 22-23 September 2022)
5
BARTOLO A., BAZAIRI H., BEQIRAJ S., BILECENOĞLU M., BUGEJA M.,
CARBONELL A., CASTRIOTA L., CHALABI A., ÇINAR M.E., DRAGIČEVIĆ
B., DULČIĆ J., EL HAWEET A., FARRAG M., GALIL B., GUERIN L.,
HYAMS-KAPHZAN O., KAPEDANI R., KAMBERI E., LIVI S., MASSE C.,
MAVRIČ B., OUERGHI A., PETOVIC S., PNG-GONZALEZ L., RIZZO M.,
ROMDHANE M.S., SHENKAR N., SHAKMAN E., YAHYAOUI A., YOKEŞ M.,
ZENETOS A.
ÜEE LLC, Marine Ecology Division, Teknopark Izmir A1/49, Urla 35437, Turkey
E-mail: marika.galanidi@gmail.com
REFINED AND UPDATED NON-INDIGENOUS SPECIES
BASELINES FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA AT THE
NATIONAL, SUB-REGIONAL AND NATIONAL LEVEL IN THE
CONTEXT OF THE BARCELONA CONVENTION’S
INTEGRATED MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT PROGRAMME
(IMAP)
Abstract
This work aimed to collect the available material on the presence of marine Non-Indigenous
Species (NIS) in the Mediterranean countries starting with existing national inventories and
updating with new species records observed until December 2020 and other taxonomic and
status amendments as appropriate. The final outcome is the result of a collaborative process
between national and regional experts, involving detailed exchange of information and the
building of consensus on the final lists to be used as the baselines for the implementation of the
Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme for the Mediterranean. (IMAP). In total,
1011 non-indigenous species have been found in Mediterranean marine waters, of which 748
are currently considered established. The highest number of species is observed in Israel,
Turkey, Lebanon and Italy. Approximately 50 species were categorized as Data Deficient, either
due to lack of consensus on their alien status or the validity of their identification. Polychaeta
and Foraminifera were the taxonomic groups with the highest number of controversial species.
There was a general increase in the yearly rate of new NIS introductions after the late 1990’s,
which appears to be slowing down in the last decade. The refined NIS inventories are an
important step for the full operationalization of the Common Indicator 6 for alien species in the
context of IMAP.
Key-words: Barcelona Convention, IMAP, NIS Baseline; Mediterranean; trends indicator
Introduction
Non-indigenous, invasive species are globally acknowledged as one of the major threats
to biodiversity, ecosystems and the services they provide (CBD, 2010; EU, 2011). As a
consequence, they constitute one of the elements that are taken into consideration when
assessing the health of the environment and formulating management strategies in order
to achieve and sustain good ecological status (EU, 2008; UNEP/MAP, 2016). In the
framework of the Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme for the
Mediterranean Sea (IMAP), NIS are addressed with Common Indicator 6 (CI6), which
assesses “Trends in abundance, temporal occurrence, and spatial distribution of non2nd Mediterranean Symposium on the Non-Indigenous Species (Genoa, Italy, 22-23 September 2022)
5