For human-readable dataset of occurrences, please access the GBIF version
https://doi.org/10.15468/ynkcys
This database of alien invertebrates occurrences included in Preda C, Adam C, Constantinescu I C, Popa O P, Popa L O, Balcu M J, Brezeanu A M, Dascalu M M, Draghici A C, Gavrilescu C F, Gavrilidis A A, Gheoca V, Iorgu E I, Iorgu I S, Krapal A M, Maican S, Manci C O, Manta N, Manu M, Motoc R M, Niculae I M, Petrescu A M, Pintilioaie A M, Popa A F, Radac I A, Rozylowicz L, Ruicanescu A, Sahlean T C, Surugiu V, Serban C, Stefan A, Szekely L, Tausan I, Skolka M (2026). From soil to stream and sea: species richness and distribution of alien invertebrates in Romania. NeoBiota 108: 21-52. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.108.175337
We compiled a comprehensive, FAIR-compliant dataset detailing alien invertebrate occurrences in Romania, using data from scientific literature (1865–2023), field surveys (2020–2022), and citizen science observations (up to 2023). This dataset encompasses 23415 records of 297 alien species, of which 212 are terrestrial (71.38%), 27 are freshwater (9.09%), and 58 are marine species (19.53%). Our results show that 170 species (57%) were recorded by only one source, whether scientific literature, fieldwork, or citizen science, while the remaining 127 species (43%) were documented by two or more sources combined. Scientific literature yielded the highest number of species (241), but 119 of these were not confirmed by our recent fieldwork or citizen-science observations. Citizen scientists reported 60 alien species, eight of which were recorded solely through this approach. The dataset also emphasizes spatial clustering around major urban areas in Romania and waterways, reflecting introduction pathways and sampling bias. In terms of management priorities, three species of EU concern, i.e., Faxonius limosus (Rafinesque, 1817), Procambarus virginalis Lyko, 2017, and Eriocheir sinensis (H. Milne-Edwards, 1853), exhibit sparse occurrence records despite their invasive potential.
See the associated article Preda C, Adam C, Constantinescu I C, Popa O P, Popa L O, Balcu M J, Brezeanu A M, Dascalu M M, Draghici A C, Gavrilescu C F, Gavrilidis A A, Gheoca V, Iorgu E I, Iorgu I S, Krapal A M, Maican S, Manci C O, Manta N, Manu M, Motoc R M, Niculae I M, Petrescu A M, Pintilioaie A M, Popa A F, Radac I A, Rozylowicz L, Ruicanescu A, Sahlean T C, Surugiu V, Serban C, Stefan A, Szekely L, Tausan I, Skolka M (2026). From soil to stream and sea: species richness and distribution of alien invertebrates in Romania. NeoBiota 108: 21-52. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.108.175337.
See the associated article Preda C, Adam C, Constantinescu I C, Popa O P, Popa L O, Balcu M J, Brezeanu A M, Dascalu M M, Draghici A C, Gavrilescu C F, Gavrilidis A A, Gheoca V, Iorgu E I, Iorgu I S, Krapal A M, Maican S, Manci C O, Manta N, Manu M, Motoc R M, Niculae I M, Petrescu A M, Pintilioaie A M, Popa A F, Radac I A, Rozylowicz L, Ruicanescu A, Sahlean T C, Surugiu V, Serban C, Stefan A, Szekely L, Tausan I, Skolka M (2026). From soil to stream and sea: species richness and distribution of alien invertebrates in Romania. NeoBiota 108: 21-52. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.108.175337.
See the associated article Preda C, Adam C, Constantinescu I C, Popa O P, Popa L O, Balcu M J, Brezeanu A M, Dascalu M M, Draghici A C, Gavrilescu C F, Gavrilidis A A, Gheoca V, Iorgu E I, Iorgu I S, Krapal A M, Maican S, Manci C O, Manta N, Manu M, Motoc R M, Niculae I M, Petrescu A M, Pintilioaie A M, Popa A F, Radac I A, Rozylowicz L, Ruicanescu A, Sahlean T C, Surugiu V, Serban C, Stefan A, Szekely L, Tausan I, Skolka M (2026). From soil to stream and sea: species richness and distribution of alien invertebrates in Romania. NeoBiota 108: 21-52. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.108.175337.
We would like to thank our collaborators in POIM SMIS 120008/2019 project for collecting data during the fieldwork, particularly to Banaduc A.M., Banaduc D.S., Cioboiu O., Cristescu M., Cupsa D., Gavril V., Iancu L., Ilie D.M., Mitroiu M.D., Olosutean H., Parvulescu L., Perju M., Petrescu I., Popescu I.E., Popescu-Mirceni R.V., Popovici O.A., Prunar F.V., Rusti D.M., Sitar C., Stanciu C.R., Tomozii I.B., Torok S.C., Urak I., Vizauer T.C., Zaharia L.G. and Zaharia R. We also thank the authors of citizen science observations included in this database. Special thanks to Istvan Lorincz for permission to mention his iNaturalist report of Obama nungara (not included in this database).
This work was supported by OneStop OneBiosecurity Systems and Technology for People, Places and Pathways, Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme, ID 101180559; ResPonSe, PNRR-III-C9-2022-I5, Romanian Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization, project no. 760010; Invasive species management in Romania according to REGULATION (EU) 1143/2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species, Ministry of Investments and European Projects, POIM SMIS 120008/2019; B3 (Biodiversity Building Blocks for policy), Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme, ID 101059592. A.M. Pintilioaie's work was partially supported through the Operational Program Competitiveness 2014-2020, Axis 1, under POC/448/1/1 Research infrastructure projects for public R and D institutions/Sections F 2018, through the Research Center with Integrated Techniques for Atmospheric Aerosol Investigation in Romania (RECENT AIR) project, under grant agreement MySMIS 127324. Manu M. work was partially supported by the project number RO1567-IBB01/2025 Romanian Academy, Institute of Biology Bucharest.
","pubDate":"2026-07-14T00:00:00.000+00:00","maintenanceUpdateFrequency":"AS_NEEDED","maintenanceDescription":"","license":"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","dwca":{"coreType":"http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/Occurrence","extensions":[],"modified":"2026-07-14T06:01:20.171+00:00"},"approximateCounts":{"occurrenceCount":23415}}