Suitability of the Weber-Gut risk assessment methodology used in Central Europe for determining invasive woody plant species in Estonian historical parks

Abstract

The main objective of this research was to assess the suitability of the risk assessment methodology developed by Weber & Gut for Central Europe in order to determine the invasive species in the dendroflora of this region's historical parks. In order to do so a region was chosen where the number of old parks is high (Estonia) and then the following characteristics were studied: 1) the distribution of invasive species; 2) the viability of invasive species. Research results showed that the risk assessment for Central Europe developed by Weber & Gut is not suitable for determining invasive tree and shrub species in the historical parks of Estonia. The research viewed 18 species (classified as a high-risk category) and only half of them had characteristics inherent to invasive behaviour (produces reproductive offspring, often in very large numbers, at a considerable distance from parent plants, and thus has the potential to spread over a considerable area). Even in a small territory (45,339 km2), the regional differences in the occurrence of invasive species were substantial. No independent mass reproduction of most of the invasive species was detected during the use of the Weber-Gut risk assessment system. This research showed that the dangers of invasive species cannot be assessed based on one methodology, but each species should be assessed according to their habitat and specifics of the species.