The morphological traits of invasive largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) are more specialised for preying on fish than native species counterparts. This was the finding of a collaborative project involving researchers from the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands and C∙I∙B members from the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) and Stellenbosch University.
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.
A recent study by C·I·B and University of Liverpool student Tom Bishop and supervisors Mark Robsertson, Berndt Janse van Rensburg and Catherine Parr has asked how the composition of ant groupings changes across environmental gradients.