Invasive species are non-native organisms that establish self-sustaining populations and spread beyond their initial introduction sites, causing or likely to cause significant ecological, economic, or health impacts. Research on invasive species examines pathways of introduction, propagule pressure, life-history traits that facilitate invasion (e.g., high reproductive rate, broad ecological tolerance), and interactions with native communities, including competition, predation, hybridization, and pathogen transmission. The topic also encompasses invasion stages (transport, introduction, establishment, spread), invasion ecology theory (e.g., enemy release, biotic resistance), risk assessment, and management strategies such as prevention, early detection, rapid response, and long-term control or eradication.
In the canals, wetlands and marshes of the Florida Everglades, the spectacled caiman has quietly expanded its foothold, threatening an already-vulnerable ecosystem. A new University of Florida study published in Frontiers ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 5, 2026
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179
The United States said on Thursday that the New World screwworm (NWS) fly, a dangerous livestock pest whose flesh-eating larvae can kill cattle, has been detected in a calf in south Texas.
Agriculture
Jun 5, 2026
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12
Wildlife officers have busted an illegal cockroach-breeding operation in rural Australia, seizing a skin-crawling haul worth more than $100,000 on the black market for exotic bugs.
Ecology
Jun 5, 2026
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16
Non-native wall lizards living in Cincinnati, Ohio, have thrived against the odds thanks to an ability to expand their population more quickly than any inbreeding-amplified harmful genes could weaken their chances for survival, ...
Ecology
May 30, 2026
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31
There's a conundrum that has perplexed biologists since Charles Darwin himself. Why do some exotic species take off as invasive pests while others don't?
Evolution
May 29, 2026
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50
Conservationists are in a race against time to prevent one of the world's rarest island plants from disappearing forever, after seeds collected from the only surviving wild Dendroseris neriifolia tree arrived at the Millennium ...
Plants & Animals
May 29, 2026
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372
Wild pigs are generally considered among the world's most problematic invasive mammals. But a major new study from Aarhus Universitet shows that the introduced animals may actually have beneficial effects in North American ...
Plants & Animals
May 28, 2026
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273
America's bees and beekeepers are losing a valuable ally just when they need its help most. The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to soon close the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, a 6,500-acre agricultural research ...
Ecology
May 26, 2026
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26
Snakes are threatened with extinction in many places around the globe. Disease, often caused by parasites or fungi, is thought to be one of the key factors alongside habitat destruction. Prominent among fungal diseases is ...
Ecology
May 26, 2026
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32
The removal of invasive rodents from Lord Howe Island has triggered a rebound of invertebrate life, with researchers from the University of Sydney and collaborators documenting sharp increases in the abundance of insects ...
Plants & Animals
May 25, 2026
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51
