‘Non-native species: alien invaders or benign newcomers?’ NBN Conference, 20th November 2009
Some people may have wondered why we focused on non-native species this year, rather than anything specifically about the National Biodiversity Network itself. The answer has to be that, if the NBN is to mean anything, it has got to be responsive to what people need, and at the moment (and probably increasingly), we are concerned about the way our environment is being severely perturbed. Non-native species, and their actual or perceived threats to our environment, are just one aspect of this.
Over 200 people booked to come to the Conference, which was held at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, off Piccadilly in London – home of the famous televised Christmas science lectures, and the place where Michael Faraday himself demonstrated his wizardry to the Victorian public. It was a rather splendid venue – partly chosen because we have been getting steadily overcrowded at the Natural History Museum’s Flett Theatre.
There was a stimulating and varied programme of speakers around the subject – looking at the issue from policy perspectives, scientific perspectives on specific aspects, engaging the public in recording species, and more broadly on the science of what non-native species really are and how we relate to them.
Dr Sandy Knapp of the Natural History Museum gave us a splendid world perspective on the issue, emphasising that over evolutionary time-frames, the transfer of species around the globe is nothing new, and that our modern understanding of the way species have been moving around has re-visited 19th century world views about faunas and floras. Professor Mick Crawley of Imperial College also gave us a stimulating and impressive lesson in the ecology of invasive species – what we know and what we do not. From the fascinating work of Dr Remy Ware of Cambridge University working on ladybird pathogens, right through to Peter Brown of Anglia Ruskin talking about engaging people in recording, the day was full of ideas.
For the NBN, the ideas included some important messages. We need to work more on getting data on-line faster. Just accessing the taxonomy and names of new species is a challenge. Identification is also a major issue if people are going to be able to contribute. Then there is the issue of what actual information should be collected to be of real use in decision-making about priorities?
One things is for certain – non-native species are here to stay. Whether they are a problem is partly about perceptions, as much as it is an issue of ecology. What is also true is that, unless we get out and record them, we cannot expect to make sensible decisions as to which are problems, and which are not.