Here the invasive flatworm is spread – new finds a week

The leaf plate mask (Obama Nungara) was first found in Sweden in Skåne in November. Subsequently, it has appeared in a number of counties in the country.

The County Administrative Board in Dalarna noted this week the first discovery of the mask. A private person in Borlänge found it on purchased plants.

– It is serious, but we have been waiting for this – several other counties have reported on bargains. But it is clear that it has also come here now, says Frida Kaiskog, environmental manager at the County Administrative Board Dalarna, to Borlänge Tidning.

The mask has recently also found among other things on Tjörn And in Trollhättan in Västra Götaland. Even in Västmanlandi Värmlandon Ölandi Blekinge And in the Stockholm area there have been reports of findings since the turn of the year.

David Falk, environmental officer at the County Administrative Board Stockholm, said to The nature side In April that these are reports from three different directions.

– All finds have been made on deliveries of plants from actors operating in plant and garden trade, that is, not in nature and not in connection with plantings.

That it is now falling into reports If the leaf plate mask does not surprise zoologist Ted von Proschwitz, a scientific curator at the Gothenburg Natural History Museum, which points out that Sweden has a large plant import from the continent.

– This is an increasing way to spread invertebrate animals, that it follows in the soil. That’s how we got the killer snail here and even black -skinned snail. It is precisely the trade in plants that initiates spread, he tells DN.

The main reason for concern When it comes to the leaf plate mask Obama is that it gives up on earthworms. If they disappear, the quality of the earth can be worse, which can cause worse harvests.

– earthworms are important in ecosystems, as they are responsible for the first step in the degradation. The biggest risk is if it damages our domestic fauna of earthworms, says Ted von Proschwitz.

There is no known way to eradicate the mask and you do not know how well it can do in Swedish nature.

Climate change makes it likely that it will be easier for the leaf plate mask to thrive in Sweden, which originated in South America. It could even survive mild winters in the north.

– The fact that we get warmer and moist climate probably benefits this species, says Ted von Proschwitz.

County administrative boards and municipalities over The whole country goes out in the spring with information about how the mask looks and how it should be handled. Cajza Eriksson, coordinator for the work against invasive species at the County Administrative Board in Skåne, has done An instructional film About how plants can be heat treated.

– There is more flat mask than we thought and hoped for. So it is very important that you as a consumer do what you can, she tells Helsingborgs Dagblad.

Since January, it has been prohibited, among other things, to breed the leaf plate mask, to use it and to release it in Sweden, following a government decision that was made when it had been found in southern Sweden.

Read more: flattened mask worries the county administrative board in Skåne