Reassessment using the Prioritization process for five alien plant species on the EPPO Observation List
In 2023/24, the EPPO Panel on Invasive Alien Plants re-assessed five species from the EPPO Observation List using the EPPO Standard PM 5/6 EPPO Prioritization process for invasive alien plants. The Observation List contains plant species (absent or present in the EPPO region) which present a medium risk to the EPPO region. A species is included in this list if the species has: 1) a medium or high rate of spread coupled with a medium impact; or 2) a low or medium rate of spread coupled with a high impact. The species were re-assessed following a literature search on newly published information since the date of the original listing. Each species was then assessed with the prioritization process. Of the five species, only one species warranted being moved from the Observation List to another list. For Araujia sericifera, the outcome of the prioritization process was that the species has a high rate of spread coupled with a high impact, the species can smother native vegetation, and in Italy it is reported as being reclassified from a casual alien to a naturalised or invasive species. A. sericifera has therefore been transferred to the EPPO List of Invasive Alien Plants. All of the new prioritization reports for the species listed in Table 1 are stored in the EPPO Global Database.
Table 1. Five re-assessed species
Species | Family | Native range | Originally listed in | Result |
Akebia quinata | Lardizabalaceae | Asia | 2012 | Maintained |
Araujia sericifera | Apocynaceae | South America | 2012 | Moved to IAP List |
Cenchrus spinifex | Poaceae | Americas | 2012 | Maintained |
Eragrostis curvula | Poaceae | Africa | 2012 | Maintained |
Verbesina encelioides | Asteraceae | Americas | 2012 | Maintained |
Maintained: Maintained on Observation List