News

Read more about the article Assessing lizards’ vulnerability to warming: how close should we zoom in?
To measure the habitat temperatures available to Girdled Lizards (left), the study’s authors used 'operative temperature models' (right). These models were hollow copper replicas of the lizards, with a temperature sensor inside that was connected to a central data logger. By mimicking the thermal properties of live organisms in the absence of physiological function, these models can accurately predict the temperature that a live organism would experience in the same location. (Photos by Raquel A. Garcia)
2019 / News

Assessing lizards’ vulnerability to warming: how close should we zoom in?

Climate data are increasingly accessible and are being used to predict which species are most vulnerable to climate change. The available datasets often consist of monthly measurements or predictions for locations every dozens or hundreds of kilometres. Can such coarse data provide realistic vulnerability assessments for small organisms?

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25 February 2019
Read more about the article Mexican sunflowers are harmful to rural African farmers
Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia diversifolia) are invasive species that are widely distributed across southern and eastern Africa, where they impact negatively on rural livelihoods and biodiversity. (Photo credit: Greg Forsyth)
2019 / News

Mexican sunflowers are harmful to rural African farmers

Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia species) are promoted as a green manure, but a survey of rural farmers revealed that these species are invasive, and have substantial negative impacts in addition to their benefits.

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18 February 2019
Read more about the article What can we learn about predicting impacts of alien predators from a globally invasive crab?
The number of mussel prey eaten by European shore crabs in native and various alien regions. (Graphic: Howard et al., 2018)
2019 / News

What can we learn about predicting impacts of alien predators from a globally invasive crab?

Because resources for addressing environmental problems are limited, it has been suggested that management should focus on those species that have the highest impacts in their new environments. Comparing the ability of alien and native species to utilize resources has been shown to offer a sound approach for identifying alien species with high impacts.

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11 February 2019
Read more about the article Study examines local knowledge regarding ecosystem services and disservices from invasive alien plants in the Kalahari
A garden with prickly pear (important for fruit fodder and hedging, but a health hazard, a pepper tree (important for shade and medicinal purposes), and syringa (important for shade but a health threat and a “messy” tree). (Photo credit: Ross Shackleton)
2019 / News

Study examines local knowledge regarding ecosystem services and disservices from invasive alien plants in the Kalahari

Understanding the trade-offs of invasive alien species for people’s livelihoods and the environment is becoming more prominent to help guide management and to avoid conflicts. One way of framing these benefits and costs are as ecosystem services and disservices.

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4 February 2019
Read more about the article African Union recognises world leader in invasion biology
Prof Dave Richardson
2019 / News

African Union recognises world leader in invasion biology

Prof Dave Richardson from the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology (CIB) at Stellenbosch University (SU) and a world leading scientist in the field of invasion biology, is the recipient of the 2018 Kwame Nkrumah Award for Scientific Excellence.

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1 February 2019