Browsing POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH OUTPUTS by Title

Tall-statured grasses: a useful functional group for invasion science

Canavan, S.; Meyerson, L.A.; Packer, J.G.; Pysek, P.; Maurel, N.; Lozano, V.; Richardson, D.M.; Brundu, G.; Canavan, K.; Cicatelli, A.; Cuda, J.; Dawson, W.; Essl, F.; Guarino, F.; Guo, W.-Y.; van Kleunen, M.; Kreft, H.; Lambertini, C.; Pergl, J.; Skalova, H.; Soreng, R.J.; Visser, V.; Vorontsova, M.S.; Weigelt, P.; Winter, M.; Wilson, J.R.U. (Springer, 2019)

Species in the grass family (Poaceae) have caused some of the most damaging invasions in natural ecosystems, but plants in this family are also among the most widely used by humans. Therefore, it is important to be able ...

Taxonomic homogenization and differentiation across Southern Ocean Islands differ among insects and vascular plants

Shaw, J.D.; Spear, D.; Greve, M.; Chown, S.L. (Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2010)

Aim To investigate taxonomic homogenization and/or differentiation of insect and vascular plant assemblages across the Southern Ocean Islands (SOI), and how they differ with changing spatial extent and taxonomic ...

Taxonomic homogenization in ungulates: patterns and mechanisms at local and global scales

Spear, D.; Chown, S.L. (Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2008)

Aim The aim of this paper is to examine taxonomic homogenization in ungulates globally and at the local scale in South Africa. Specifically, we aim to examine the roles of distance, scale, time, extinctions vs. ...

The terrestrial life of sea kraits: insights from a long-term study on two Laticauda species (Reptilia: Squamata: Elapidae) in the Andaman Islands, India

Tyabji, Z.; Mohanti, N.P.; Young, E.; Khan, T. (Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0, 2018)

Sea kraits forage in water and return to land to digest their prey, mate, slough, and lay their eggs. The temporal terrestrial patterns in encounter rate and behaviour of two species of sea kraits Laticauda colubrina and ...

Thermal biology, population fluctuations and implications of temperature extremes for the management of two globally significant insect pests

Nyamukondiwa, C.; Weldon, C.; Chown, S.L.; le Roux, P.; Terblanche, J.S. (Elsevier, 2013)

The link between environmental temperature, physiological processes and population fluctuations is a significant aspect of insect pest management. Here, we explore how thermal biology affects the population abundance of ...

Thermal melanism in ectotherms: a review

Clusella-Trullas, S.; van Wyk, J.H.; Spotila, J.R. (Elsevier, 2007)

Whether melanism plays a significant role in thermoregulation has been a persistent question in studies of thermal biology of ectotherms. This review provides a synthesis of the thermal melanism hypothesis which states ...

Trait-mediated indirect interactions in a marine intertidal system as quantified by functional responses

Alexander, M.E.; Dick, J.T.A.; O'Connor, N.E. (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013)

Studies of trait-mediated indirect interactions (TMIIs) typically focus on effects higher predators have on per capita consumption by intermediate consumers of a third, basal prey resource. TMIIs are usually evidenced by ...

A trophic interaction framework for identifying the invasive capacity of novel organisms

Penk, M.; Saul, W.-C.; Dick, J.T.A.; Donohue, I.; Alexander, M.E.; Linzmaier, S.; Jeschke, J.M. (British Ecological Society, 2017)

1. The likelihood and impacts of invasions by novel organisms (e.g. non-native species, genetically modified organisms) on the composition and functioning of receiving biological communities hinges on their capacity to ...

Trophic overlap between fish and riparian spiders: potential impacts of an invasive fish on terrestrial consumers

Jackson, M.C.; Woodford, D.J.; Bellingan, T.A.; Weyl, O.L.F.; Potgieter, M.J.; Rivers-Moore, N.A.; Ellender, B.R.; Fourie, H.E.; Chimimba, C.T. (John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2016)

Studies on resource sharing and partitioning generally consider species that occur in the same habitat. However, subsidies between linked habitats, such as streams and riparian zones, create potential for competition between ...

Uncontrolled admixture and loss of genetic diversity in a local Vietnamese pig breed

Berthouly-Salazar, C.; Thevenon, S.; Thu Nhu, V.; Binh Trong, N.; Lan Doan, P.; Cuong Vu, C.; Maillard, J.-C. (Blackwell Publishing, 2012)

The expansion of intensive livestock production systems in developing countries has increased the introduction of highly productive exotic breeds facilitating indiscriminate crossbreeding with local breeds. In this study, ...

Unlocking the potential of Google Earth as a tool in invasion science

Visser, V.; Langdon, B.; Pauchard, A.; Richardson, D.M. (Springer, 2014)

Distribution data are central to many invasion science applications. The shortage of good information on the distribution of alien species and their spatial dynamics is largely attributable to the cost, effort and expertise ...

Using network theory to understand and predict biological invasions

Frost, C.M.; Allen, W.J.; Courchamp, F.; Jeschke, J.M.; Saul, W.C.; Wardle, D.A. (2019)

Understanding and predicting biological invasions is challenging because of the complexity of many interacting players. A holistic approach is needed with the potential to simultaneously consider all relevant effects and ...

Using public surveys to reliably and rapidly estimate the distributions of multiple invasive species on the Andaman archipelago

Mohanty, N.P.; Sachin, A.; Selvaraj, G.; Vasudevan, K. (The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, 2018)

To effectively manage multiple biological invasions, information on their distributions must be generated rapidly and over large spatial scales. Using public surveys in a false-positive occupancy framework, we reliably ...

Variation in scorpion metabolic rate and rate–temperature relationships: implications for the fundamental equation of the metabolic theory of ecology

Terblanche, J.S.; Janion, C.; Chown, S.L. (Blackwell, 2007)

The fundamental equation of the metabolic theory of ecology (MTE) indicates that most of the variation in metabolic rate are a consequence of variation in organismal size and environmental temperature. Although evolution ...

We object to bad science: poor research practices should be discouraged!

Mothapo, P.N.; Phiri, E.E.; Maduna, T.L.; Malgas, R.; Richards, R.; Sylvester, T.T.; Nsikani, M.; Boonzaaier-Davids, M.K.; Moshobane, M.C. (2020)

What determines the impact of alien birds and mammals in Europe?

Kumschick, S.; Bacher, S.; Blackburn, T.M. (Springer Science+Business Media B.V., 2013)

An often-cited reason for studying the process of invasion by alien species is that the understanding sought can be used to mitigate the impacts of the invaders. Here, we present an analysis of the correlates of local ...

Where less may be more: how the rare biosphere pulls ecosystems strings

Jousset, A.; Bienhold, C.; Chatzinotas, A.; Gallien, L.; Gobet, A.; Kurm, V.; Kusel, K.; Rillig, M.C.; Rivett, D.W.; Salles, J.F.; van der Heijden, M.G.A.; Youssef, N.H.; Zhang, X.; Wei, Z.; Hol, W.H.G. (International Society for Microbial Ecology, 2017)

Rare species are increasingly recognized as crucial, yet vulnerable components of Earth’s ecosystems. This is also true for microbial communities, which are typically composed of a high number of relatively rare species. ...