A word of introduction |
Good day!
We are pleased to present you the first newsletter of the AlienScenarios project. This newsletter will be used to inform you twice a year on the project development and related activities. To avoid missing anything about upcoming events, the latest publications, outreach activities, etc., please subscribe to this newsletter by clicking here. Feel free to share this newsletter with everyone who might be interested. Additional information can also be found on the website and on Twitter.
Best regards,
The AlienScenarios team
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What is AlienScenarios? Why is it important?
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Biological invasions substantially affect biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human livelihoods. They are among the top 5 threats to global biodiversity, and the 2nd largest threat to island biota. The associated mitigation and adaptation costs are extremely high, reaching billions of estimated environmental damages per year in the US and in Europe. The numbers and impacts of invasions will further rise in the future as the rate of establishment of alien species has increased strongly during the last decades with no sign of saturation. Up to 16% of all species on Earth qualify as potential new alien species in the future.
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In AlienScenarios, we will, for the first time, evaluate the range of plausible futures of biological invasions for the 21st century at different spatial scales and for a range of taxonomic groups. We will combine the strategic forward-looking methodology of scenario planning with advanced modelling approaches to construct plausible global mid-term (2050) and long-term (2100) futures of biological invasions and their impacts.
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The AlienScenarios project has officially started!
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The kickoff of the AlienScenarios project took place in the beautiful town of Hainburg, Austria. The work package leaders gathered from Europe and Canada to discuss and harmonize the different parts of the project. Belinda Gallardo, from the InvasiBES project also joined us, to foster collaborations between the two projects.
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First AlienScenarios publication
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| The objectives and overview of AlienScenarios, and details on the different work packages are detailed in the first publication of the project. The article was published in NeoBiota, and can be found here.
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The AlienScenarios leaflet
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| We have designed a leaflet providing general information on the AlienScenarios project for stakeholders and the general public. The template can be found here for printing. Please do not hesitate to distribute!
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BiodivScen kick-off meeting
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| The kick-off meeting of the BiodivScen action funding the AlienScenarios project, following a collaboration between the Belmont Forum and Biodiversa, took place in Helsinki, Finland, from May 14th to May 16th. This was the occasion for representatives from all projects funded by BiodivScen to meet and identify potential avenues for synergies and collaborations, as well as with stakeholders. Details on the BiodivScen call and the funded projects can be found here.
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