Category: News

First observation of Impatiens balfourii in Luxembourg

Posted onAuthorDr. Christian Ries

Impatiens balfourii. Luxembourg, Kirchberg. Photo: Roland Proess, 5 August 2016.

Impatiens balfourii Hook.f. was first observed in Luxembourg in the wild in 2016, on the edge of the Kirchberg plateau by Roland Proess. It is at present considered to be subspontaneous; it may however have the potential to become naturalised in Luxembourg due to climate change.

Yves Krippel & Roland Proess have written a detailed article on the subject which was published in the Bulletin of the Luxembourg Naturalist Society:

  • Krippel, Y. & R. Proess, 2017. Impatiens balfourii Hook.f. (Balsaminaceae), nouvelle espèce subspontanée au Luxembourg ?. Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 119: 55-61. [PDF 2,72 MB]

Impatiens balfourii has been assessed according to the ISEIA protocol by Yves Krippel and Christian Ries: B1, Watch List.

Two other invasive alien balsam species occur in Luxembourg: the Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera Royle), one of the most common and widespread invasive neophytes in Luxembourg, and the small balsam (Impatiens parviflora DC.), which is widespread in forest ecosystems across Luxembourg.

 Page content last updated on 2019-11-12. Last proofread by Caroline Grounds on 2019-11-12.

New up-to-date distribution maps on neobiota.lu

Posted onAuthorDr. Christian Ries

Records of Procyon lotor Linnaeus, 1758 in Luxembourg. Data source: Recorder-Lux, iNaturalist & GBIF, 2024-11-23.

The distribution maps on neobiota.lu are from now on up to date. Every time a page concerning a species present in Luxembourg is viewed, the distribution data are retrieved on the fly by a query sent to the Recorder-Lux database of the Luxembourg National Museum of Natural History.

These data are saved on the neobiota.lu server in GPX format and displayed using the OSM (Open Street Map) WordPress plugin.

 Page content last updated on 2020-12-08. Last proofread by Caroline Grounds on 2019-11-12.

IAS coordination group for Luxembourg created by Ministerial Order

Posted onAuthorDr. Christian Ries

On 21 November 2016 the Minister for the Environment, Carole Dieschbourg signed the Ministerial Order creating a coordination group for invasive alien species in Luxembourg, which was published in the Memorial on 28 November 2016.

Arrêté ministériel du 21 novembre 2016 portant création du groupe de coordination sur les espèces exotiques envahissantes au Luxembourg. Mémorial B – N° 121 du 28 novembre 2016. (PDF 29 KB)

 Page content last updated on 2019-11-12. Last proofread by Caroline Grounds on 2019-11-12.

Publication of a leaflet on Ambrosia artemisiifolia

Posted onAuthorDr. Christian Ries

In autumn 2016 the Department for the Environment of the Luxembourg Ministry of sustainable development and infrastructures edited a leaflet in German and French about Ambrosia artemisiifolia, in co-operation with the National Museum of Natural History and efor-ersa ingénieurs-conseils. It can be downloaded here in PDF format (4 MB each).

More information on the Common Ragweed in Luxembourg can be found in a dedicated article on this website.

flyer-cover-de   flyer-cover-fr

 Page content last updated on 2020-03-30. Last proofread by Caroline Grounds on 2019-11-12.

Information leaflet on Vespa velutina

Posted onAuthorDr. Christian Ries

Vespa-velutina-flyer-1st-pageThe Asian predatory wasp (Vespa velutina), also known as the Asian Hornet or yellow-legged hornet, is a species of hornet indigenous to Southeast Asia, particularly the tropical regions, from Northern India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, Taiwan, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Indo-Chinese peninsula and surrounding archipelagos.

As an invader in Europe, the hornet has appeared in France, Spain, Portugal. Further invasions are expected in various countries, including much of Europe.

As it is currently spreading from the south towards the north of France, we expect this wasp species to arrive in Luxembourg quite soon. This is why a leaflet was produced to enable people, and especially bee keepers, to identify the species and report its presence to the authorities.

→ Download the leaflet in PDF format (3,2 MB) (in German)

The leaflet has been produced by:

  • Ministère du Développement durable et des infrastructures
    • Département de l’Environnement
    • Administration de la nature et des forêts
  • Landesverband fir Beienzuucht
  • natur&ëmwelt
  • Musée national d’histoire naturelle, section d’écologie

 Page content last updated on 2020-03-30. Last proofread by Caroline Grounds on 2019-11-12.

Ceratophyllum submersum L., a new species for Luxembourg

Posted onAuthorDr. Christian Ries

MNHNL22119

Herbarium specimen MNHNL22119 at the Luxembourg National Museum of Natural History.

Ceratophyllum submersum L., commonly known as the soft hornwort, is a submerged, free-floating aquatic plant.

A very dense submerged population of the soft hornwort was discovered in a pond near Sanem on 21st June 2015 by German botanists Jörg Zoldan and Annette Steinbach-Zoldan during a survey for the nature conservation organisation SICONA-Ouest. The pond had been artificially created in 2010.

In November 2015 specimens from this population were deposited in the herbarium of the Luxembourg National Museum of Natural History.1

Ceratophyllum submersum, Flora Batava Vol. 19, 1893. Wikimedia Commons.

Ceratophyllum submersum, Flora Batava Vol. 19, 1893. Wikimedia Commons.

 Page content last updated on 2019-11-12. Last proofread by Caroline Grounds on 2019-11-12.

  1. Herbarium number MNHNL22119.[↩]

Unnoticed invasion of highways by halophyte Atriplex micrantha Ledeb.

Posted onAuthorDr. Christian Ries

The annual halophyte Atriplex micrantha Ledeb. (syn.: A. heterosperma Bunge) was first spotted in Hellange on 14 October 2007. By 2015, eight years later, it had colonised the median strip of huge parts of the Luxembourg highway network.

Read more in the post about Atriplex micrantha.

Atriplex_mi_Ries_small

Atriplex micrantha in the median strip of the A1 highway near Potaschberg, together with Senecio inaequidens. Curator Dr Christian Ries taking samples for the Museum herbarium. Photo: Dr Jim Meisch, 08.10.2015.

 Page content last updated on 2019-11-12. Last proofread by Caroline Grounds on 2019-11-12.

Common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) seeds in bird food in Luxembourg in 2007 and 2012

Posted onAuthorDr. Christian Ries

Ambrosia-in-bird-seed-in-Luxembourg-2012_300pxThis study looks at the presence of common ragweed seeds in bird food in Luxembourg in 2012 and compares the results with an earlier study conducted in 2007. The study has been conducted by Christian Ries, Yan Steil and Patrick Thommes at the Department of Ecology in the National Museum of Natural History in Luxembourg,

The poster was presented on March 16th 2013 at the “XXXe réunion annuelle des collaborateurs scientifiques du Musée national d’histoire naturelle Luxembourg”.

→ Download the poster in pdf format (1.5 MB)

 Page content last updated on 2013-04-17.