News

The appointment of Prof Dave Richardson, director of the Centre for Invasion Biology (CIB), as a James March Professor-at-Large at the University of Vermont (UV), is another feather in his cap. His appointment at this premier small research university, one of the USA’s best, comes just weeks after he received the John FW Herschel Medal [...]

The director’s baton of the DST/NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology (C·I·B) at Stellenbosch University was handed over from one world-class scientist to another. Prof Dave Richardson has taken up this leadership role since the beginning of May. This follows the resignation of the C·I·B’s founding director, Prof Steven Chown, who is to pursue [...]

Antarctica’s reputation as one of the most pristine environments on earth is being threatened by foreign plants and animals that are unwittingly being brought to the icy continent in the luggage of tourists and scientists. Changing climates are making matters worse, and are making it easier for these plants to establish, to become invasive, and [...]

The Minister of Science and Technology, Ms Naledi Pandor, received an impressive snapshot of the globally significant activities and endeavours of the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology (C·I·B) when she recently visited the Stellenbosch University campus. The Minister, along with Dr Albert van Jaarsveld, President and CEO of the National Research Foundation (NRF) [...]

People, politics and social trends - and not necessarily environmental issues such as climate change - will have the biggest impact on how well the Cape’s fynbos biodiversity is protected in future from the growing problem of invasive plants and animals. That is the message after a recent scenario planning exercise on the management of invasive species [...]

Ms Candice-Lee Lyons, a doctoral student in zoology at Stellenbosch University, received the award for the best student presentation at the recent Zoological Society of Southern Africa (ZSSA) Conference in Stellenbosch for her talk on the impact that climate change might have on two mosquito species that are known carriers of malaria. Her study aims [...]

Dr Cécile Berthouly-Salazar, a postdoctoral fellow of the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology (C·I·B) at Stellenbosch University, was awarded a National Geographic Research and Exploration grant to study the spatial genetic structure of invasive common starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in South Africa. The National Geographic Society awards grants for scientific field research and exploration [...]

Core team members of the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology (C•I•B) at Stellenbosch University are among an impressive group of experts who have contributed to a new global encyclopaedia that provides easy access to various topics relating to invasive species. The bulky 792-page Encyclopedia of Biological Invasions, which includes 400 colour illustrations and [...]

The industrious pen of Stellenbosch University academic Prof Dave Richardson has produced yet another publication, one which is proving to be quite a success amongst readers interested in matters relating to the history, science and philosophy surrounding invasive species research. Just a few months after being released, publishers Wiley-Blackwell are already considering a second print [...]

The first coffee-table book – one that is a pleasure both to read and to look at – on the history, beauty and conservation of South Africa’s southernmost territories, Marion Island and Prince Edward Island, has been published. The 176-page book, Marion and Prince Edward – Africa’s southern islands, was written and compiled by researchers at [...]

Australian acacias are the topic of discussion during an extensive workshop being held this week by the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology(C·I·B) at Stellenbosch University (SU). According to workshop organiser Prof Dave Richardson of the C·I·B, the focus falls on the ecology and management of Australian acacia as they occur outside their natural [...]

The influence of climate change and invasive species in Australia and other countries will be discussed on 5 October during the third instalment of the public lecture series being held by the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology (C·I·B) at Stellenbosch University to celebrate the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB). The talk will be [...]

 Despite looking almost identical at first glance, a big group of sable antelope found in Western Zambia are not, to the dismay of conservationists, members of the same subspecies as the critically endangered giant sable of Central Angola. This follows genetic research at Stellenbosch University, which showed that the critically endangered giant sable (Hippotragus niger [...]

Biodiversity in Southern Africa and elsewhere in the world is under serious threat due to unchecked human activity, a leading authority on invasion biology has warned. “Climate change is upon us. There is absolutely no doubt about it. Humans are warming the planet, and this is causing substantial change, which is happening very quickly,” Professor [...]

Should we be more worried than we already are about the state of southern Africa’s natural beauty? Yes, says Prof Steven Chown from Stellenbosch University, who will address issues on the extensive and rapid change to biodiversity in the region in a public lecture on 15 September in Stellenbosch. His talk is part of a [...]