A website has been launched in Russia that allows citizens to report invasive weeds and plants in the Murmansk region, in a move aimed at involving residents in monitoring these species and limiting their spread.
Specialists from the Kola Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the Kola Peninsula have launched the website " invas.ru " along with a related smartphone application, which allows residents of the region and its visitors to monitor and photograph the emergence of invasive alien plants, document their spread locations, and contribute to collecting the scientific data necessary to predict their future spread paths.
The project's organizers explained that the platform transforms the process of monitoring invasive plants into an enjoyable and useful exploration experience, as every report confirmed by users becomes part of a scientific database used to assess environmental risks and develop plans to combat these species.
Environmental experts point out that until recently, it was believed that the cold climate in northern Russia acted as a natural barrier against the spread of invasive plants, but scientific observations have proven otherwise. While only about 40 invasive plant species were known on the Kola Peninsula during the first half of the 19th century, the number rose to nearly 100 at the beginning of the 20th century, and then to about 250 by the middle of the last century. Today, more than 550 invasive plant species capable of establishing themselves in the local ecosystems of the Murmansk region have been recorded.
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Some of the plants included in the blacklist on the site are: (Rósa rugósa), (Lupínus polyphýllus), (Lupinus nootkatensis), (Salix arbuscula), (Persicaria weyrichii), (Elytrígia répens), (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), and others, with pictures and detailed information about these plants so that users can identify them and document their areas of spread.
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