Operationalisation of the novel assessment framework to evaluate the impact of invasive species on Baltic Sea ecosystems in the context of climate change
About this initiative
Estonian-Norwegian cooperation project involves following activities: 1. Complete operationalization of the Novel NIS Impact Framework for its implementation in Estonian and adjacent marine waters, as well as in Oslofjord, Norway, including the validation of functional cause-effect relationships. 2. Integration of the Novel NIS Impact Framework into the PlanWise4Blue Tool, enabling automatic exports to Estonian Environment Agency databases. 3. Training on invasive species and the assessment of their impacts in various data availability scenarios. 4. Informational Materials on Invasive Species. University of Tartu has a long-standing collaboration with NIVA (Norwegian Institute for Water Research) researchers. This is crucial, as the project is relatively short-term, so efficient collaboration is essential. NIVA brings valuable expertise, particularly in GIS data, spatial modeling, and analyzing the impacts of various human pressures on natural values. Shared knowledge strengthens both the Estonian and Norwegian teams. The partner's broader role focuses on implementing the established framework, particularly in the Norwegian case study of Oslofjord. Specific tasks include mapping the distribution and impact of non-indigenous species, finding existing GIS data on these species and their environments, improving spatial modeling frameworks, and refining environmental impact analysis methods.
Results achieved
All planned project activities were successfully completed through close collaboration among the project partners. The collaboration was highly effective and resulted in the development of an open-access, web-based decision-support tool (NEAT), which enables high-quality spatial assessments of non-indigenous species effects for key stakeholders. Moreover, the dissemination of NIS effects info and the development of the tool included more activities than planned, increasing co-creation with stakeholders and participatory mapping inclusion - incl training event in the "Open Fish Harbor Days 2025" in Pärnu Japsi Harbour, with over 1000 people attending and two factsheets introducing the effects of the Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) and the Mexican clam (Rangia cuneata). The systematic review on the effect of 40 NIS in the Baltic and North Sea from WebOfScience and Scopus databases resulted in 1641 new publications. After title-abstract screening 214 publications were checked at full-text level. 137 cause-effect relationships between NIS and natural assets were extracted from 24 publications and integrated into NEAT tool to provide science based evidence for effect size calculations. Two case-study areas are successfully incorporated and tested in the NEAT tool, with Oslofjord area including assessments for 13 species and the Baltic Sea 25 species. Details of the implementation and testing are available https://gis.sea. ee/bluebiosites/files/NEAT_manual.pdf.