1. Tracking the invasion of the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852) (Decapoda Cambaridae) in Sicily: a 'citizen science' approach
- Author
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Pierluigi Vinci, Giuseppe Russo, Federico Marrone, Stefania D'Angelo, Carmelo Isgrò, Gabriele Giacalone, Vincenzo Garozzo, Giuseppe Urso, Maria Grazia Zizzo, Daniele Torre, Federica Navarria, Giorgio Favaccio, Domenica Emanuela Canale, Antonio Torre, Viviana Tinnirello, Raffaella Melfi, Giacoma Lidia Giancontieri, Bruno Morello, Francesco Paolo Faraone, Giancarlo Torre, Faraone, F., Giacalone, G., Canale, D., D'Angelo, S., Favaccio, G., Garozzo, V., Giancontieri, G., Isgrò, C., Melfi, R., Morello, B., Navarria, F., Russo, G., Tinnirello, V., Torre, A., Torre, D., Torre, G., Urso, G., Vinci, P., Zizzo, M., and Marrone, F.
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,lcsh:QH1-199.5 ,biological invasions ,Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia ,010607 zoology ,Procambarus ,alien species ,Citizen science ,lcsh:General. Including nature conservation, geographical distribution ,01 natural sciences ,Swamp ,Invasive species ,Red swamp crayfish ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Procambarus clarkii ,Global and Planetary Change ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,Ecology ,biology ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,biology.organism_classification ,Crayfish ,language.human_language ,Cambaridae ,Fishery ,Geography ,language ,Stefania ,alien species, biological invasions, citizen science, Procambarus clarkii ,Sicilian - Abstract
Author(s): Faraone, Francesco Paolo; Giacalone, Gabriele; Canale, Domenica Emanuela; D'Angelo, Stefania; Favaccio, Giorgio; Garozzo, Vincenzo; Giancontieri, Giacoma Lidia; Isgro, Carmelo; Melfi, Raffaella; Morello, Bruno; Navarria, Federica; Russo, Giuseppe; Tinnirello, Viviana; Torre, Antonio; Torre, Daniele; Torre, Giancarlo; Urso, Giuseppe; Vinci, Pierluigi; Zizzo, Maria Grazia; Marrone, Federico | Abstract: The first record of the red swamp crayfish in Sicily dates back to 2003 and, since then, the species seemed to be confined to a few localities in western Sicily. A small “citizen science” project carried out from November 2016 onwards led to the creation of the “Sicilian Procambarus working group” (SPwg), which aims at monitoring the distribution and impact of the species in Sicily. To date, the SPwg found the red swamp crayfish in five new sites on the island, thus doubling the number of local sites of occurrence. The new Procambarus clarkii sites lie in different river basins, some of them located several hundred kilometres from the invaded areas known to date, suggesting the existence of multiple independent releases of the species in the wild. The need of better informing the local population on the risks exerted by invasive species on biological diversity, and of carefully monitoring the impact of P. clarkii on the Sicilian inland water biota is briefly stressed.
- Published
- 2017
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