Guttural toads (Sclerophrys gutturalis) have been invasive in Mauritius and Reunion for nearly 100 years (since ~1922), and have been in Constantia (near Cape Town) for another 20 years, but where did those colonising toads come from?
With a changing climate it becomes even more important to understand how animals experience temperature on the ground. On a warm summer's day, air temperature sensors might reach 30°C or more, yet a lizard will feel the heat differently in its own environment.
The first meeting of authors for a new global assessment of invasive alien species and their control for the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), was held recently in Japan.
Clearing the invasive alien tree Port Jackson (Acacia saligna) doesn't necessarily lead to the recovery of native plant communities because secondary invaders may be dominant and persist up to three years after clearing at levels similar to, or higher than the first year after clearing.
In a paper recently published in Current Biology, an international team led by C·I·B research associate Jaco Le Roux and postdoctoral fellow Heidi Hirsch contrasted the patterns and dynamics of plant extinctions between biodiversity hot- and coldspots.
