Print

Mail

wiki links

Experts needed to study foreign species, NSC says

Taiwan has carried out extensive research on the spread of foreign species around the nation and further research will be conducted in the next year, according to the National Science Council (NSC) yesterday.

The issue of foreign species flourishing in local ecosystems, which threaten biodiversity, have been a hot topic ever since South American fire ants were discovered in Taoyuan and Taipei.

The NSC's Wu Mau-kuen (吳茂昆) said yesterday that it is important to ensure that the public has access to useful information about the fire ants and other foreign species that pose a threat to the nation's biodiversity.

"Experts have worked on designing a project that helps the government control the spread of fire ants," Wu said.

Wu also said that the national task force on invasive species will be established early next month to work closely with related government agencies to strengthen measures to control the ant problem.

According to Wu, invasive species such as the fire ant not only threaten biodiversity, but also habitat quality. The NSC spent NT$12 million last year financing seven major projects on assessing and monitoring the spread of foreign organisms.

According to the NSC, the South American fire ant is just one foreign species threatening the nation. Researchers have found that the apple snail population has also threatened biodiversity. Aquatic life is threatened as a result of pesticides used to fight the snail, which flourishes in agricultural areas.

According to the Council of Agriculture, other kinds of foreign species which jeopardize Taiwan's ecological system include the Polynesian rat, the pinewood nematode, psylla chinensis, cycad aulacaspis scale, the golden mussel, the sun skink, the American rope and the water hyacinth.

These foreign species produce severe, often irreversible impacts on the agricultural sector, recreational areas and natural resources.

Wu said that the shortage of local expertise in biodiversity-related fields has been a problem for years. Before 2000, the number of researchers engaged in biodiversity research in Taiwan was less than 200.

Biological diversity is the sum total of the variety of life and its interactions. It can be subdivided into three levels: genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity. According to Wu, most of Taiwan's biodiversity-related research focuses on endangered species.

"Relatively little effort has been made to study genetic diversity and ecosystem diversity. We need more interdisciplinary integration," Wu said.

To make up the gap in biodiversity researchers, the NSC, the Academia Sinica and the Ministry of Education will jointly come up with a plan to encourage Taiwanese students to study abroad and gain expertise in the necessary fields.

For example, Taiwan needs more experts in taxonomy, a branch of biological sciences which deals with the identification, description, naming and classification of the organisms, Wu said.
This story has been viewed 3237 times.