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Where do Invasive Alien Species come from?
There are two major pathways for IAS into Turkey’s marine waters: The Suez Canal), and human induced transport such as ship-mediated transport. In the 2011 national review of IAS in marine waters, it was found that 66% of the total IAS in Turkey’s coastal waters arrived via the Suez Canal, while 30% arrived via ship transport. The opening of the Suez Canal particularly and climate change facilitates the inset of new species. Alien plant and animal species proliferate fast in the Mediterranean. Experts predict that, on the present rate, alien plant species will outnumber the native species by mid 21st century. Due to the global warming, it is further projected that species endemic to the Mediterranean will be replaced by the Red Sea species and the Black Sea will become another Mediterranean.
Invasive Alien Species in today’s world pose economic,
social and environmental problems both in
marine and terrestrial environments,
and continue to be a biggest threat to global biodiversity.