Alien plants, animals, fungi and algae in Norway: an inventory of neobiota

• Published in: Biological Invasions
• Main Authors: Sandvik, Hanno, Dolmen, Dag, Elven, Reidar, Falkenhaug, Tone, Forsgren, Elisabet, Hansen, Haakon, Hassel, Kristian, Husa, Vivian, Kjærstad, Gaute, Ødegaard, Frode, Pedersen, Hans Christian, Solheim, Halvor, Stokke, Bård Gunnar, Åsen, Per Arvid, Åström, Sandra Charlotte Helene, Brandrud, Tor Erik, Elven, Hallvard, Endrestøl, Anders, Finstad, Anders Gravbrøt, Fredriksen, Stein, Gammelmo, Øivind, Gjershaug, Jan Ove, Gulliksen, Bjørn, Hamnes, Inger Sofie, Hatteland, Bjørn Arild, Hegre, Hanne, Hesthagen, Trygve H., Jelmert, Anders, Jensen, Thomas Correll, Johnsen, Stein Ivar, Karlsbakk, Egil, Magnusson, Christer, Nedreaas, Kjell Harald, Nordén, Björn, Oug, Eivind, Pedersen, Oddvar, Pedersen, Per Anker, Sjøtun, Kjersti, Skei, Jon Kristian, Solstad, Heidi, Sundheim, Leif, Swenson, Jon, Syvertsen, Per Ole, Talgø, Venche, Vandvik, Vigdis, Westergaard, Kristine Bakke, Wienerroither, Rupert, Ytrehus, Bjørnar, Hilmo, Olga, Henriksen, Snorre, Gederaas, Lisbeth
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: VDP::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480; VDP::Zoology and botany: 480; Arctic; Svalbard; Norway; Jan Mayen
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2631449; https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-019-02058-x

We present the results of an inventory and status assessment of alien species in Norway. The inventory covered all known multicellular neobiota, 2496 in total, 1039 of which were classified as naturalised. The latter constitute c. 3% of all species known to be stably reproducing in Norway. These figures are higher than expected from Norway’s latitude, which may be due a combination of climatic and historical factors, as well as sampling effort. Most of the naturalised neobiota were plants (71%),followed by animals (21%) and fungi (8%). The main habitat types colonised were open lowlands (79%), urban environments (52%) and woodlands (42%). The main areas of origin were Europe (67%), North America (15%) and Asia (13%). For most taxa, the rate of novel introductions seems to have been increasing during recent decades. Within Norway, the number of alien species recorded per county was negatively correlated with latitude and positively correlated with human population density. In the high-Arctic territories under Norwegian sovereignty, i.e. Svalbard and Jan Mayen, 104 alien species were recorded, of which 5 were naturalised. acceptedVersion