The Cyprus Database of Alien Species (CyDAS)
Invasive alien species (IAS) are a direct driver of global biodiversity loss, and can also affect societies, economies and human health. Maintaining up-to-date alien species inventories is important for informing policy and management decisions. Here we present the Cyprus Database of Alien Species (CyDAS), an openly accessible, online dataset providing informational resources on alien species on the island of Cyprus. The dataset (up to end of December 2023) includes information on 1,293 terrestrial, freshwater and marine introduced taxa, with species profiles being constantly updated to keep track of new arrivals. The CyDAS aims to catalogue and supplement our knowledge on the alien species of Cyprus; to help develop and enhance early warning and rapid response systems; to raise public awareness of the risks posed by the IAS subset; to strengthen and enhance engagement and public participation in surveys in the field of biological invasions; and to inform IAS policy. CyDAS is a free, online database and we would like to encourage other researchers and decision-makers to provide information on IAS.
Authors
- Diana E. Bowler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7775-1668)
- Jakovos Demetriou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5273-7109)
- Angeliki F. Martinou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2892-8583)
- John van Breda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0418-4076)
- Owen Mountford
- Marilena Onete (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1439-9975)
- B S RATHOD (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6305-7464)
- Helen Elizabeth Roy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6050-679X)
- Argyro Zenetos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2670-042X)
- Oliver L. Pescott (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0685-8046)
- Jodey Peyton
- Nikolas Michailidis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6140-2802)
- Maria Th. Stoumboudi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2173-9328)
Institutions
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (AT)
- Cyprus Institute (CY)
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (GR)
- University of Exeter (GB)
- Stellenbosch University (ZA)
- Academia Oamenilor de Știință din România (RO)
- University of Cyprus (CY)
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (GB)
- Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (GR)
- Aga Khan Foundation (US)
- Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment (CY)
- Romanian Academy (RO)
- Joint Base San Antonio (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Data
- Published
- 2025-11-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-06151-w
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Marine Ecology and Invasive Species
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.21
Funders
- Government of the United Kingdom
- Natural Environment Research Council
- Centre for Ecology and Hydrology