Abstract: First observations in Bulgaria of Carpobrotus edulis from both sand dunes and coastal cliffs are presented in the current study. In 2024, first signs of naturalisation of C. edulis, a species with high potential for invasiveness, were registered on two locations on the Southern Black Sea Coast: in embryonic shifting dunes, on a small beach west of Chernomorets Town, and on a coastal cliff in the town of Ravda. Images of the most significant morphological characteristics, that distinguish C. edulis from C. acinaciformis, are presented. In 2025, a field survey, monitoring of invasive plants, was carried out at 23 dune systems from the Southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and Carpobrotus species were not registered in the sand dune habitats of the studied dune complexes. Nevertheless, collected data shows, that unregulated ornamental planting is a major source of propagules for several invasive species in the dune habitats, and the appearance of Carpobrotus edulis as a garden escapee from gardens established around hotels, bungalows, beach bars, etc., is a matter of time, given that the species is widely used for ornamental purposes in the area. Therefore, monitoring of priority areas (coastal dunes and cliffs) and timely action by management authorities is needed to eradicate the recorded populations and raise awareness among the local community about the high invasiveness of the species and the existing ecological risk to coastal habitats – sand dunes and coastal cliffs.
Keywords: alien plant invasion, coastal cliffs, Hottentots-fig, psammo- and hasmophytic vegetation, sand dune habitats, western Pontic coast
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Additional information
Received: 6 April 2026 · Accepted: 8 May 2026
Editor: Stanislav Abadjiev
Conflicts of interest:
No potential conflict of interest has been reported by the authors, reviewers, or subject editor.
Authors’ contributions (using CrediT ↗):
Chavdar Gussev: conceptualisation, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, validation, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing; Magdalena Valcheva: conceptualisation, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, visualisation, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing; Bogdan Prodanov: data curation, investigation, validation, visualisation, writing—review and editing.
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Cite as
Gussev Ch., Valcheva M., Prodanov B. 2026 First records of the invasive plant Carpobrotus edulis from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. Historia naturalis bulgarica 48: 145–158.