• Contrasting invasion patterns in intertidal and subtidal mussel communities. 

  Skein, L.; Alexander, M.; Robinson, T. (NISC (Pty) Ltd, 2018)

  Two invasive mussel species are known from South Africa, Mytilus galloprovincialis and Semimytilus algosus. Most of the existing research on these invaders has focused on the intertidal zone, with little attention paid to ...

• Soil physio-chemical properties in Lapalala Wilderness old agricultural fields, Limpopo Province of South Africa 

  Ruwanza, S.; Mulaudzi, D. (ALOKI Kft, Budapest, Hungary, 2018)

  Natural recovery of abandoned agricultural fields take decades due to biotic and abiotic constraints. A key question is how does soil physico-chemical properties prevent the transition from degraded to restored state. This ...

• Woody encroachment slows decomposition and termite activity in an African savannah 

  Leitner, M.; Davies, A.B.; Parr, C.L.; Eggleton, P.; Robertson, M.P. (John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2018)

  Woody encroachment can lead to a complete switch from open habitats to dense thickets, and has the potential to greatly alter the biodiversity and ecological functioning of grassy ecosystems across the globe. Plant litter ...

• Re-establishment of Protea repens after clearing invasive Acacia saligna: Consequences of soil legacy effects and native nitrophilic weedy species 

  Nsikani, M.M.; van Wilgen, B.W.; Bacher, S.; Gaertner, M. (Elsevier B.V., 2018)

  Invasive Australian acacias can alter soil chemistry and microbial communities in areas they invade. After clearing invasive acacias, these changes can persist, and previously invaded areas can become dominated by nitrophilic ...

• Even well-studied groups of alien species might be poorly inventoried: Australian Acacia species in South Africa as a case study 

  Magona, N.; Richardson, D.M.; Le Roux, J.J.; Kritzinger-Klopper, S.; Wilson, J.R.U. (Pensoft, 2018)

  Understanding the status and extent of spread of alien plants is crucial for effective management. We explore this issue using Australian Acacia species (wattles) in South Africa (a global hotspot for wattle introductions ...

• The relevance of using various scoring schemes revealed by an impact assessment of feral mammals 

  Hagen, B.L.; Kumschick, S. (Pensoft, 2018)

  Impact scoring schemes are useful for identifying to what extent alien species cause damage. Quantifying the similarity and differences between impact scoring schemes can help determine how to optimally use these tools for ...

• Identifying the factors that determine the severity and type of alien bird impacts 

  Evans, T.; Kumschick, S.; Sekercioglu, C.H.; Blackburn, T.M. (John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2018)

  Aim: To identify traits related to the severity and type of environmental impacts generated by alien bird species, in order to improve our ability to predict which species may have the most damaging impacts. Location: ...

• More than “100 worst” alien species in Europe 

  Nentwig, W.; Bacher, S.; Kumschick, S.; Pysek, P.; Vila, M. (Springer, 2018)

  ‘‘One hundred worst’’ lists of alien species of the greatest concern proved useful for raising awareness of the risks and impacts of biological invasions amongst the general public, politicians and stakeholders. All lists ...

• Mountain roads and non-native species modify elevational patterns of plant diversity 

  Haider, S.; Kueffer, C.; Bruelheide, H.; Seipel, T.; Alexander, J.M.; Rew, L.J.; Arevalo, J.R.; Cavieres, L.A.; McDougall, K.L.; Milbau, A.; Naylor, B.J.; Speziale, K.; Pauchard, A. (John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2018)

  Aim: We investigated patterns of species richness and community dissimilarity along elevation gradients using globally replicated, standardized surveys of vascular plants. We asked how these patterns of diversity are ...

• The effect of temperature on the developmental rates of seedling emergence and leaf-unfolding in two dwarf bamboo species. 

  Lin, S.; Shao, L.; Hui, C.; Sandhu, H.S.; Fan, T.; Zhang, L.; Li, F.; Ding, Y.; Shi, P. (Springer, 2018)

  Key message: The mean and variance of developmental rates of bamboos at different temperatures follow a power law. The rate isomorphy hypothesis, demonstrated in insects and mites, does not hold in bamboos. The ...

• Interactions among predators and plant specificity protect herbivores from top predators 

  Bosc, C.; Roets, F.; Hui, C.; Pauw, A. (Ecological Society of America, 2018)

  The worldwide loss of top predators from natural and agricultural systems has heightened the need to understand how important they are in controlling herbivore abundance. The effect of top predators on herbivore species ...

• The porcelain crab Porcellana africana Chace, 1956 (Decapoda: Porcellanidae) introduced into Saldanha Bay, South Africa 

  Griffiths, C.L.; Roberts, S.; Branch, G.M.; Eckel, K.; Schubart, C.D.; Lemaitre, R. (REABIC, 2018)

  The porcelain crab Porcellana africana Chace, 1956, a species native to NW Africa, between Western Sahara and Senegal, is reported from Saldanha Bay, South Africa, and both morphological evidence and DNA analysis are used ...

• The changing role of ornamental horticulture in alien plant invasions 

  van Kleunen, M.; Essl, F.; Pergl, J.; Brundi, G.; Carboni, M.; Dullinger, S.; Early, R.; Gonzalez-Moreno, P.; Groom, Q.J.; Hulme, P.E.; Kueffer, C.; Kuhn, I.; Maguas, C.; Maurel, N.; Novoa, A.; Parepa, M.; Pysek, P.; Seebens, H.; Tanner, R.; Touza, J.; Verbrugge, L.; Weber, E.; Dawson, W.; Kreft, H.; Weigelt, P.; Winter, M.; Klonner, G.; Talluto, M.W.; Dehnen-Schmutz, K. (Cambridge Philosophical Society, 2018)

  The number of alien plants escaping from cultivation into native ecosystems is increasing steadily. We provide an overview of the historical, contemporary and potential future roles of ornamental horticulture in plant ...

• Short-term vegetation recovery after alien plant clearing along the Rondegat River, South Africa 

  Fill, J.M.; Kritzinger-Klopper, S.; van Wilgen, B.W. (Society for Ecological Restoration, 2018)

  The outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects should be periodically monitored to inform subsequent adaptive management decisions. In 2012, a project was begun to remove both invasive alien plants and fish from the ...

• Molecular characterization of cosmopolitan and potentially co-invasive helminths of commensal, murid rodents in Gauteng Province, South Africa 

  Julius, R.S.; Schwan, E.V.; Chimimba, C.T. (Springer, 2018)

  Concurrent studies of helminth parasites of introduced and native rodent species are few and miss the opportunity to identify potential co-invasive parasite species. This study employed molecular tools to infer the phylogeny ...

• Climate warming drives invasion history of Ambrosia artemisiifolia in central Europe 

  Mang, T.; Essl, F.; Moser, D.; Dullinger, S. (Czech Botanical Society, 2018)

  It is thought that future climate change is likely to foster biological invasions, but effects of climate warming on invasions in recent decades are little explored. In this paper, we analyse the history of the spread of ...

• What drives performance potential of Lantana camara L. (sensu lato) in the invaded range? 

  Goyal, N.; Esler, K.J.; Sharma, G.P. (International Society for Tropical Ecology, 2018)

  Lantana camara L. (sensu lato), one of the world’s worst invaders has disseminated rapidly and continues to expand in its invaded range. Invasiveness of a species can broadly be gauged by determining trait values, considered ...

• Helminth composition and prevalence of indigenous and invasive synanthropic murid rodents in urban areas of Gauteng Province, South Africa 

  Julius, R.S.; Schwan, E.V.; Chimimba, C.T. (Cambridge University Press, 2018)

  Although synanthropic rodents such as the indigenous species, Mastomys coucha, and the invasive species, Rattus norvegicus, R. rattus and R. tanezumi, are well-known to be hosts to various micro- and macroparasites, their ...

• Niche complementarity between an alien predator and native omnivorous fish in the Wilge River, South Africa 

  Lombard, R.J.; Chimimba, C.T.; Zengeya, T.A. (Springer, 2018)

  A major challenge in biological invasions is to predict community susceptibility to invasion. This study investigated trophic interrelationships between an alien predator, largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), and native ...

• A review of Solanum mauritianum biocontrol: prospects, promise and problems: a way forward for South Africa and globally 

  Cowie, B.W.; Venter, N.; Witkowski, E.T.F.; Byrne, M.J.; Olckers, T. (Springer, 2018)

  The invasive tree Solanum mauritianum Scopoli remains one of the world’s most widespread environmental weeds. Despite biocontrol providing one of the few viable long-term solutions to tackling S. mauritianum invasions ...

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