Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species - Kyrgyzstan

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS) presents validated and verified checklists of introduced (alien) and invasive alien species at the country, territory level. The development of the GRIIS resource is an initiative supported by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and was originally implemented within the framework of the Global Invasive Alien Species Information Partnership (GIASIPartnership). The IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) is the project lead and includes a dedicated GRIIS unit. The resource is designed to support national governments to make progress to achieve invasive alien species targets under the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Sustainable Development Goals; especially in the development of their National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans, their National Invasive Alien Species Strategy and Action Plan (NIASAP), target setting and monitoring.

GRIIS has global coverage, including overseas territories and regions. Where appropriate, sub-lists have been created for Oceanic Islands- for e.g. Soqotra of Yemen and the Juan Fernandez Islands of Chile. Taxonomic coverage includes all kingdoms of organisms: Animalia, Bacteria, Chromista, Fungi, Plantae, Protozoa, Viruses. The annotations recorded in GRIIS include- Species name and authorship, synonyms if used and authorship, Higher taxonomy (kingdom, phylum, class, order and family), Environment/system in which the species occurs (terrestrial, freshwater, brackish, marine, host), provenance or origin of the species, invasive status of the alien species. The inclusion of additional annotations are planned, including the date of introduction or first record of the alien species, type of introduction (deliberate or accidental), pathways of introduction, impact mechanism and the global EICAT (Environmental Impact Classification of Alien Taxa) category assigned to the species.

The Global Register of Invasive Species (GRIS) was developed as a concept and prototype by the ISSG in 2006 as part of a project undertaken for the Defenders of Wildlife on the Regulation of Live Animal Imports into the United States. Between 2011-2020, the concept was revisited and expanded by the ISSG to address Aichi Biodiversity Target 9 and support its achievement - with the development of the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS). GRIIS hosted by the ISSG compiles annotated and verified national checklists of introduced (alien) and invasive alien species. Development and population of the GRIIS was undertaken by the ISSG within the framework of activities of the Information Synthesis and Assessment Working Group of the Global Invasive Alien Species Information Partnership. The GRIIS checklist is an annotated species catalogue, or inventory, recorded from a country, an island, protected area, or area of high biodiversity value. Following GBIF's guide to best practices for publishing species checklists (Hanmer et al 2012), the GRIIS checklist includes taxonomic information in a standard way. The checklist is compiled by a team of experts and non-specialists including citizen scientists that have knowledge of species taxonomy, access to reliable and authoritative source information that can be validated and verified (for methods please see Pagad et al. 2018).
A summary of the process • The ISSG GRIIS unit conducts a comprehensive review of authoritative and credible information sources and develops a draft annotated country checklist of introduced (alien) and invasive alien species. • Annotations include species name (accepted name and synonym if used by the source), higher taxonomy, environment/system in which the species occurs, biological status (provenance (alien or not) and invasiveness-based on evidence of impact), • Country editor/editors are identified and consulted for advice, including knowledge of additional key data sources • Draft checklists are submitted to country editors for a review of both accuracy of information and to identify any significant gaps. Revisions are implemented based on feedback. • Every species record includes a check (indication) if the status has been verified as such by country editors. In cases where ‘evidence of impact’ information is gathered from peer-reviewed literature or reports for the country in question, the species status is designated as 'verified'. • Names of the editors as well as the complete reference list of sources consulted is recorded. Key references used to develop the GRIIS checklists are provided as part of the metadata. References for every species recorded are available on request. • Incremental updates are implemented on an on-going basis. Bi-annual major updates are planned for all checklists. Notes on the annotations • Species names recorded from source information are referred to the GBIF taxonomic editor; if the source species name is a synonym, the accepted name is also recorded. This process contributes to the application of a consistent taxonomy across all inventories. • Higher taxonomy - Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Genus and Species with species authority. • Environment system – terrestrial / freshwater / brackish / marine/ host and combinations thereof • Provenance - a) as recorded by the source information, b) as interpreted by the compiler - three options are applied alien, native/alien (if the species is native in a part of a country and alien in another part), provenance uncertain/cryptogenic • Invasiveness is based on evidence of impact Note: In cases where country editors have not been identified, the checklist is published after the GRIIS unit validates the checklist. The GRIIS team members are listed as originators of the checklist. The checklist is reviewed by country editors once they have been identified and the expert’s names are listed as originators of the checklist.

The GRIIS initiative was developed within the framework of the GIASIPartnership, with co-funding from the European Union through the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. As coordinator of GIASIP, and on behalf of CBD Secretariat, GBIF has supported the development of GRIIS and its integration into the GBIF data infrastructure to ensure interoperability. In July 2019, GBIF provided direct funding from its core budget to support the completion of GRIIS lists for all countries, EU Overseas Territories and selected islands by March 2020.