Host plant compatibility and underground storage capacity do not explain the resistance of creeping prickly pear (Opuntia humifusa) to damage caused by the biocontrol cochineal scale insect Dactylopius opuntiae.
It seems to be part of human nature to rate things against each other, to rank and to make lists of the “best” and the “worst”. Systems have been developed, for example, to rank soccer teams according to their performance; cities and countries around the world are ranked according to living standards.
The soil legacy effects of invasive nitrogen fixing woody species can present several barriers to the restoration of native plant communities. This was the finding of a recent review paper by C·I·B PhD student, Mlungele Nsikani, and C·I·B Core Team Members, Brian van Wilgen and Mirijam Gaertner, in the journal Restoration Ecology.
A paper published in the journal Biological Control showed that leaf-feeding beetles may be one of South Africa’s most promising biocontrol agents for famine weed.
In November 2017, the Centre for Invasion Biology (C·I·B) hosted an international workshop on “Invasion Syndromes”. The aim of the workshop was to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of identifying invasion syndromes when studying and managing biological invasions.
