EFSA's environmental risk assessment of the apple snail for the EU: a novel approach

Abstract

The Island apple snail was accidentally released in the rice fields in the Ebro Delta in Spain in 2010, and is spreading since then, threatening also the natural environment. In 2014, EFSA Panel on Plant Health performed an environmental risk assessment of Pomacea maculata for the EU. To perform this task the Panel followed a novel approach applying the guiding principles of its environmental risk assessment framework. The snail density was identified as the driver of the ecosystem change, and the Panel developed a population dynamics model to estimate the potential snail population densities across Europe, and to identify the potential snail hot spots in Europe. The Panel assessed the potential impact of the invasive snails on the ecosystem traits, the ecosystem services and biodiversity components for the shallow freshwater areas in Europe containing macrophytes, such as wetlands, shallow lakes, river deltas and the littoral zone of deeper lakes and rivers. Maps were generated to represent the results of the assessments.