https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. More than 2,500 plant species have the potential to invade the Arctic at the expense of the species that belong there. Norway is one of the areas that is particularly at risk. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-thousands-alien-species-invade-arctic.html Plants & Animals Tue, 03 Feb 2026 10:50:01 EST news689336150 Insects are often seen as invaders due to high-profile species like the yellow-legged (Asian) hornet, the harlequin ladybird and fire ant. But new research reveals insects are also major victims of invasive alien species—exacerbating population declines and reducing their ability to provide vital services for biodiversity and people, from pollination to pest control. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-insects-victims-invaders.html Plants & Animals Thu, 15 Jan 2026 04:00:03 EST news687610501 Invasive species are reshaping ecosystems and local people's relationship with nature in the tropics, a study led by Danish researchers Ninad Avinash Mungi and Jens Christian Svenning from Aarhus University shows. The research is published in the journal Nature Reviews Biodiversity. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-invasive-rapidly-tropic-ecosystems-continents.html Plants & Animals Thu, 11 Sep 2025 10:14:05 EDT news676804441 Southeast Asia's tropical forests are renowned for their biodiversity, but at the same time face significant threats from the expansion of oil palm plantations. With global demand for palm oil rising, the urgency for effective restoration strategies in these landscapes has become critical. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-tree-islands-nature-oil-palm.html Plants & Animals Mon, 18 Nov 2024 13:18:04 EST news651158281 A lot of people think of plants as pretty to look at, but defenseless and passive as far as organisms go. However, the many alien species—or "monster plants"—around us show we should never underestimate plants and the fascinating battles that go on beneath our feet. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-monster-expert-alien-invasive-species.html Plants & Animals Wed, 14 Aug 2024 12:50:05 EDT news642858602 In a leap toward managing the ecological challenge posed by alien plant species, a recent study outlines a methodology for integrating and harmonizing data on plant invasions across Australia. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-bridging-lexical-approach-combat-invasions.html Plants & Animals Thu, 21 Mar 2024 12:58:02 EDT news630244681 As the climate warms, the number of alien species on every continent is expected to increase 36% by 2050. Some alien species—that is, plants or animals that live outside their natural range—are invasive and can harm ecosystems and the areas they invade with serious impacts on the global food supply, medicines, water quality, biodiversity, and livelihoods. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-climate-invasive.html Ecology Wed, 13 Mar 2024 13:20:02 EDT news629554672 Our park ponds typically hold good numbers of mallards, and urban grassy areas often hold concentrations of geese. In the UK, Canada Geese are an abundant and widespread alien species, well known for fouling parks with their feces. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-urban-waterfowl-important-seed-dispersers.html Plants & Animals Tue, 28 Nov 2023 12:45:03 EST news620397901 Often introduced unintentionally by human activities, invasive alien species can outcompete and overwhelm native flora and fauna, driving species to the brink of extinction and disrupting the balance of ecosystems. Understanding why exactly they establish in new locations and how they got there in the first place is crucial if we are to mitigate their destructive effects. Unfortunately, there isn't enough research on this, and the answers might not always be straightforward. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-soil-sea-freight-dangerous-pests.html Plants & Animals Fri, 20 Oct 2023 13:32:03 EDT news617027521 Earth's habitats are facing a big increase in the number of alien species they have to deal with. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-invasive-species-biodiversity-disasterbut.html Plants & Animals Wed, 06 Sep 2023 13:03:26 EDT news613224200 Invasive, alien species are bad for ecosystems. They reduce bidoversity and disrupt food chains, including our own. https://phys.org/news/2022-03-adding-fungi-soil-invasive-species.html Plants & Animals Tue, 22 Mar 2022 08:00:02 EDT news567154698 All over the world, people are moving out of rural areas, and cities are growing. What will be the impact on resident species that live in these cities? Which will be our new plant and animal neighbors, which will have to leave town, and what does that mean for us humans? https://phys.org/news/2021-09-species-urban-neighbours.html Ecology Tue, 14 Sep 2021 08:20:01 EDT news550823626 Invasive alien plants are plant species that grow in an environment outside their native habitat. If they successfully establish self-sustaining populations in these new environments—an event called "naturalization"—they can have considerable negative impacts on local ecosystems, economies, and societies. But not all alien plant species are equally effective in invading new habitats. Therefore, an international team of scientists, headed by Konstanz-based biologist Professor Mark van Kleunen, investigated different types of "invasiveness" and possible factors that determine invasion success of alien plants in Europe. https://phys.org/news/2021-05-dimensions-invasive-success.html Plants & Animals Tue, 25 May 2021 14:53:38 EDT news541173214 They're one of the most damaging environmental forces on Earth. They've colonized pretty much every place humans have set foot on the planet. Yet you might not even know they exist. https://phys.org/news/2021-04-alien-invaders-pest-animals-trillion.html Plants & Animals Mon, 19 Apr 2021 08:39:13 EDT news538040346 The global movement of goods and people, in its modern form, has many unwanted side effects. One of these is that animal and plant species travel around the world with it. Often they fail to establish themselves in the ecosystems of the destination areas. Sometimes, however, due to a lack of effective management, they multiply to such an extent in the new environment that they become a threat to the entire ecosystem and economy. Thousands of alien species are currently documented worldwide. A quarter of them are in highly vulnerable, aquatic habitats. https://phys.org/news/2021-04-aquatic-invasive-species-billions-dollars.html Plants & Animals Tue, 06 Apr 2021 12:59:04 EDT news536932741 The ruddy duck, originally from North America, was introduced to Britain as an ornamental wildfowl in the 1940s and soon spread throughout the country. Only after a decade or more of expensive culling, has this non-native duck been largely removed. https://phys.org/news/2021-02-eco-fusion-native-non-native-species.html Plants & Animals Thu, 18 Feb 2021 10:40:02 EST news532866774 Vestal Grove in the Somme Prairie Grove forest preserve in Cook County, Illinois, looks nothing like the scrubby, buckthorn-choked tangle that confronted restoration ecologists 37 years ago. Thanks to the efforts of a dedicated team that focused on rooting up invasive plants and periodically burning, seeding native plants and culling deer, the forest again resembles its ancient self, researchers report in the journal PLOS ONE. https://phys.org/news/2020-10-decades-long-effort-revives-ancient-oak.html Ecology Thu, 29 Oct 2020 11:19:27 EDT news523189143 Invasive alien plant species can pose a serious threat to native biodiversity and to human well-being. Identifying the factors that contribute to invasion success is therefore crucial. Previous studies on biological invasions have focused mainly on interactions between one alien and one native species, attributing invasion success to the superior competitive ability of the invading aliens. Very few experiments have examined them in multi-species plant communities. https://phys.org/news/2020-10-invasional-meltdown-multi-species.html Ecology Mon, 05 Oct 2020 11:00:02 EDT news521105076 Alien species are the main driver of recent extinctions in both animals and plants, according to a new study by UCL researchers. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-alien-species-primary-global-extinctions.html Ecology Mon, 04 Mar 2019 03:32:56 EST news470892767 The replacement of natural fynbos vegetation with pine plantations in the southern Cape, and the subsequent invasion of surrounding land by invasive pine trees, significantly increased the severity of the 2017 Knysna wildfires. This is one of the findings of a study published in the journal Fire Ecology by a research team from the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology (CIB) at Stellenbosch University, Nelson Mandela University, SANParks, and the CSIR. The aim of the study was to assess the climatic, weather and fuel factors that contributed to one of the worst fires ever recorded in the region. https://phys.org/news/2018-09-invasive-fueled-south-africa.html Environment Fri, 07 Sep 2018 08:30:01 EDT news455527796 Australia's reptiles, including lizards and snakes, are facing growing threats from invasive species and climate change, with seven percent on the verge of extinction, conservationists said Thursday. https://phys.org/news/2018-07-percent-australia-reptiles-extinction.html Ecology Thu, 05 Jul 2018 08:34:55 EDT news449998475 Is it possible to predict whether newly-arriving alien species, such as fishes from the Black Sea, will establish in Western Europe and displace native species? Researchers of Wageningen University & Research and Radboud University Nijmegen present a novel method, based on functional traits, such as mouth shape, to predict which alien fish species pose a threat to native fish. Their work is published in PLOS ONE of this week. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-invasive-species-pose-threat.html Ecology Thu, 07 Jun 2018 09:04:44 EDT news447581075 Neophytes – invasive plants that are alien to the region – are a huge burden on the public purse. The ETH spin-off "In-Finitude" has set up a new online platform right on time for the growing season. This displays the locations of the invasive neophytes across Switzerland and offers support to landowners and local authorities in combating them. https://phys.org/news/2017-08-online-campaign-invasive.html Ecology Wed, 16 Aug 2017 08:00:04 EDT news422086654 Researchers in the Biological Station of Doñana (CSIC) have studied the extent to which alien invasive plants benefit from fires in Mediterranean regions. Their results indicate that many grasses and certain trees are spread by wildfire, species which in turn increase the frequency of fires, as occurs with Eucalyptus trees in Portugal and Galicia. https://phys.org/news/2013-07-invasive-gramineae-species-propagate-wildfire.html Ecology Wed, 31 Jul 2013 08:08:25 EDT news294476896 The gardener's best friend, the earthworm, is great at protecting leaves from being chomped by slugs, suggests research in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Ecology. Although they lurk in the soil, they seem to protect the plants above ground. Increasing plant diversity also decreases the amount of damage slugs do to individual plants. https://phys.org/news/2013-05-invasion-slugshalted-worms.html Ecology Sun, 12 May 2013 20:00:01 EDT news287589431 More than 900 new alien species have been encountered in the coastal environments of the eastern Mediterranean Sea in recent decades, including the poisonous pufferfish. The invasion of alien species has had the consequence that the whole food chain is changing, while there is a lack of knowledge on which to base relevant risk assessments, a four-year study conducted at the University of Gothenburg shows. https://phys.org/news/2011-05-mediterranean-sea-invaded-alien-species.html Ecology Mon, 23 May 2011 17:20:40 EDT news225390028 Like some bad science-fiction movie, Philippine fishermen are encountering strange alien creatures: tough, speckled fish with sharp spines that tear and rip their nets. https://phys.org/news/2011-03-philippines-invading-species.html Ecology Wed, 09 Mar 2011 03:50:01 EST news218863430 With increasing species richness, due to more plant introductions than extinctions, plant communities of many European regions are becoming more homogeneous. The same species are occurring more frequently, whereas rare species are becoming extinct. It is not only the biological communities that are becoming increasingly similar, but also the phylogenetic relations between regions. These processes have led to a loss of uniqueness among European floras, scientists from the DAISIE research project have published their findings in the current online edition of the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). https://phys.org/news/2009-12-europe-flora-impoverished.html Ecology Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:36:46 EST news179757376 An alien plant species has invaded Missouri and is threatening to overrun crops and livestock pastures. To combat the scourge weed, officials are deliberately releasing two alien insect species to destroy its roots and seeds. What could possibly go wrong? https://phys.org/news/2009-08-missouri-kansas-alien-insects-invasive.html Ecology Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:20:02 EDT news168542436