The South African biocontrol programme for invasive Tamarix has begun, with host-specificity testing of Tamarisk beetles. This news comes from a recent review article by Dr Danica Marlin, C·I·B Core Team Member Prof Marcus Byrne and colleagues, all from the University of the Witwatersrand.
The 2017 Routledge Handbook of Ecological and Environmental Restoration incorporates a chapter on Mediterranean-type shrublands and woodlands; these ecosystems are of high biodiversity importance and include the Cape Region of South Africa.
The theory about the mechanisms underlying the coexistence between species has been developed with a focus on interactions between pairs of species, often ignoring more complex and indirect interactions that can appear in competition networks.
Despite repeated introductions, existing populations of an invasive fish predator in South Africa display extremely limited levels of genetic diversity.
Findings from two recent papers by C·I·B postdoc, Ross Shackleton, highlight how the invasive plants prickly pear (Opuntia stricta) and Lantana (Lantana camara), cause negative impacts on local communities and the environment in Kenya and Uganda.
