An invasive or alien species is an introduced species to an environment that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native species that become harmful to their native environment after human alterations to its food web – for example, the purple sea urchin which has decimated kelp forests along the northern California coast due to overharvesting of its natural predator, the California sea otter. Since the 20th century, invasive species have become a serious economic, social, and environmental threat worldwide.
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area. Phytogeography is the branch of biogeography that studies the distribution of plants. Zoogeography is the branch that studies distribution of animals. Mycogeography is the branch that studies distribution of fungi, such as mushrooms.
In biology, a refugium is a location which supports an isolated or relict population of a once more widespread species. This isolation (allopatry) can be due to climatic changes, geography, or human activities such as deforestation and overhunting.
Daniel Simberloff is an American biologist and ecologist. He earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1969. He is currently Gore Hunger Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Tennessee, editor-in-chief of the journal Biological Invasions, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Naturalisation is the ecological phenomenon through which a species, taxon, or population of exotic origin integrates into a given ecosystem, becoming capable of reproducing and growing in it, and proceeds to disseminate spontaneously. In some instances, the presence of a species in a given ecosystem is so ancient that it cannot be presupposed whether it is native or introduced.
Species distribution, or speciesdispersion, is the manner in which a biological taxon is spatially arranged. The geographic limits of a particular taxon's distribution is its range, often represented as shaded areas on a map. Patterns of distribution change depending on the scale at which they are viewed, from the arrangement of individuals within a small family unit, to patterns within a population, or the distribution of the entire species as a whole (range). Species distribution is not to be confused with dispersal, which is the movement of individuals away from their region of origin or from a population center of high density.
Cang Hui is a mathematical ecologist at Stellenbosch University. His research interests are proposing models and theories for explaining emerging patterns of biodiversity, networks and adaptive traits in ecology and evolution.
In spatial ecology and macroecology, scaling pattern of occupancy (SPO), also known as the area-of-occupancy (AOO) is the way in which species distribution changes across spatial scales. In physical geography and image analysis, it is similar to the modifiable areal unit problem. Simon A. Levin (1992) states that the problem of relating phenomena across scales is the central problem in biology and in all of science. Understanding the SPO is thus one central theme in ecology.
Ladislav Mucina is a vegetation scientist and Professor and Iluka Chair of Vegetation Science and Biogeography at the School of Biological Science of The University of Western Australia in Perth. He was born on 28 May 1956 in Piešťany, Slovakia.
Abraham Erasmus van Wyk, also known as Braam van Wyk is a South African plant taxonomist. He has been responsible for the training of a significant percentage of the active plant taxonomists in South Africa and has also produced the first electronic application (app) for the identification of trees in southern Africa.
Miriam Phoebe de Vos was a leading South African botanist and academic. She was an expert on bulbous plants, especially Romulea. She also had a special interest in Moraea and Clivia.
In botany, a neophyte is a plant species which is not native to a geographical region and was introduced in recent history. Non-native plants that are long-established in an area are called archaeophytes. In Britain, neophytes are defined more specifically as plant species that were introduced after 1492, when Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World and the Columbian Exchange began.
The Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve is located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa approximately 40 km east of Cape Town. The Biosphere Reserve extends from the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve in the south, northwards along the Cape Fold Belt Mountain Chain and the adjoining valleys constituting the Cape Winelands. The Biosphere Reserve incorporates key portions of the registered Cape Floral Region Protected Areas World Heritage Site. The Reserve was designated in 2007.
Jennifer Lee is an Antarctic researcher, best known for her work on invasion biology. She is the Environment Officer in the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
The Australasian Virtual Herbarium (AVH) is an online resource that allows access to plant specimen data held by various Australian and New Zealand herbaria. It is part of the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), and was formed by the amalgamation of Australia's Virtual Herbarium and NZ Virtual Herbarium. As of 12 August 2014, more than five million specimens of the 8 million and upwards specimens available from participating institutions have been databased.
Daniel Lee Nickrent is an American botanist, working in plant evolutionary biology, including the subdisciplines of genomics, phylogenetics, systematics, population genetics, and taxonomy. A major focus has been parasitic flowering plants, particularly of the sandalwood order (Santalales). His interest in photographic documentation and photographic databases has led to several photographic databases including Parasitic Plant Connection, Phytoimages, Plant Checklist for the Rocky Mountain National Park, and Plant Checklist for the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge.
The enemy release hypothesis is among the most widely proposed explanations for the dominance of exotic invasive species. In its native range, a species has co-evolved with pathogens, parasites and predators that limit its population. When it arrives in a new territory, it leaves these old enemies behind, while those in its introduced range are less effective at constraining them. The result is sometimes rampant growth that threatens native species and ecosystems.
Invasion genetics is the area of study within biology that examines evolutionary processes in the context of biological invasions. Invasion genetics considers how genetic and demographic factors affect the success of a species introduced outside of its native range, and how the mechanisms of evolution, such as natural selection, mutation, and genetic drift, operate in these populations. Researchers exploring these questions draw upon theory and approaches from a range of biological disciplines, including population genetics, evolutionary ecology, population biology, and phylogeography.
Anna Traveset is a Spanish ecologist, particularly known for her work on ecological interactions between plants and animals, especially on islands.
Brian John Huntley is a retired professor and conservation scientist from South Africa, best known for developing and transforming African national parks. He was involved in expanding the National Botanical Institute to become an authoritative repository on South African flora and fauna. As an independent expert, he was a consultant for agencies and international organizations, including the United Nations, with regard to nature conservation. He himself took part in multiple conservation projects around Africa.
