Snakes and spiders slipping into country in flowers and plants
Share:
Rising temperatures could see more pests introduced on increasingly tropical plants. Spiders, insects, fungi and agricultural pests are being imported into the UK and northern Europe in cut flowers and other ornamental plants. Snakes and lizards are also slipping unnoticed into northern Europe in vast shipments of flowers and potted plants, researchers have warned.
Continental European snakes, geckos and Italian wall lizards are among the animals making their way to the region in potted olive trees destined for gardens and green space, according to the study published on Friday in the journal Bioscience. The species can cause extensive damage to food crops and the environment, the paper said, citing the threat invasive snakes are posing to ecosystems on previously snake-free Mediterranean islands like Majorca.
The researchers warned the reptiles are “just the tip of the iceberg”. Despite regulations and border checks, the volume of fast-moving plant shipments makes it difficult to detect species. The researchers said climate change could see disease-carrying insects like mosquitos, which previously would have died from the cold in northern Europe, increasingly likely to survive.
Rising temperatures could also lead to some ornamental plants being imported from warmer climates flourishing in the wild as invasive species in countries like the UK. The study highlighted other environmental and health impacts caused by the trade, including environment-harming microplastics and agrochemicals entering the soil, health-harming pesticide residues and huge water use in producer countries as well as a wider carbon footprint from transporting cut flowers between continents.
