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.
A “mycorrhiza” is a relationship between a fungus and the roots of a plant. The fungus lives inside the plant roots, and increases the roots’ efficiency in absorbing nutrients from the soil. In such a relationship, both the plants and the fungi, are said to be mycorrhizal and this relationship between plant roots and its associated fungi (“mycorrhizal fungi”) is, amongst other things, important for plant growth.
What would researchers at the Centre for Invasion Biology and students of the UCT’s new Environmental Humanities MPhil course have to say to each other?
Protected areas are increasingly important in the maintenance of species, ecosystems and the services they provide; at the same time, however, invasions by alien species are accelerating, undermining the conservation value of protected areas and preventing them from achieving their goals. If the invasion of alien species into protected areas is to be prevented, or at least minimised, then a detailed understanding of their drivers is required.