Species Accounts – Invasive Species Northern Ireland

Golden mussel

Limnoperna fortunei

Status:

Potential

Habitat:

Freshwater

Threats:

Fouls pipes, filters and intakes of water works. Colonises native bivalves and displaces native species. Increases algal blooms

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Golden wreath wattle

Acacia saligna (Acacia cyanophylla)

Status:

Potential

Habitat:

Terrestrial

Threats:

Outcompetes native species

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Grey squirrel

Sciurus carolinensis

Status:

Established

Habitat:

Terrestrial

Threats:

Threatens red squirrel and woodlands.

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Gyrodactylus salaris

Status:

Potential

Habitat:

Freshwater

Threats:

Serious negative impacts on salmonid stocks.

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Harlequin ladybird

Harmonia axyridis

Status:

Established

Habitat:

Terrestrial

Threats:

Alert: Specimen found in Ireland.

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Himalayan balsam

Impatiens glandulifera

Status:

Established

Habitat:

Terrestrial

Threats:

Competition with native plants & collapsing of river banks

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Himalayan honeysuckle

Leycesteria formosa

Status:

Established

Habitat:

Terrestrial

Threats:

Can form dense thickets, dominating the habitat and outcompeting native flora for light and space

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Himalayan knotweed

Koenigia polystachya

Status:

Established

Habitat:

Terrestrial

Threats:

Quick growing and difficult to control. Habitat generalist.

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Hottentot fig

Carpobrotus edulis

Status:

Established

Habitat:

Terrestrial

Threats:

Changes to dune environments.

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