News from the GuardIAS project
Watercourses, wetlands and marine ecosystems are affected by invasive species more than other systems. Just think of the rapid advance of round gobies, American crayfish, overbite clam, North Asian weatherfish and zebra mussels. Some of these are ecosystem engineers that change ecosystems faster than we can respond. Once they have established themselves, they are difficult to get rid of.
The EU Horizon project GuardIAS aims to reduce the effects on endangered native species and nature reserves. It wants to provide practical solutions for the management of aquatic invasive species. To this end, it will test innovative technologies, artificial intelligence, eDNA and advanced modelling techniques for better prioritisation, detection and control. The project, which started in January 2025 (report), has now been running for a year. Time for a first assessment.
The very first GuardIAS newsletter provides an overview of the project's activities and what is still to come. You can read more about the eleven case studies on management, three of which are led by INBO: marbled crayfish, bullfrog and African clawed frog. You will also get a sneak preview of the GuardIAS Intelligence Analyst System (GIAS) tool, a specific AI for invasive species. GuardIAS also organises training courses, a summer school in Norway on eDNA, and various citizen science activities, including an iNaturalist survey to improve image recognition of Union List species.
Damiano Oldoni, Fleur Petersen, Diederik Strubbe, Teun Everts, Rein Brys en Tim Adriaens
Image above: American crayfish (photo INBO)