Friends tuning into my MSc defence from the field.

Final thank you slide in my MSc defence.

4am alarm. Virtual defence. MSc = DONE 🎉

Had to bridge a massive time zone gap between South Africa and Vancouver, BC, but having friends, family, and colleagues show up online made it a fantastic experience. Thanks to my supervisor @tbrresearch.bsky.social and lab mates for getting me here 🤗

So exciting to see this work from @mad-abbott.bsky.social! Not captured in this publication are the countless midnight low tides and gruelling Vancouver weather that they endured to sample 4,221 hermit crabs 🦀 Well done!

Caribbean Creep meets Chesapeake Creep: marine bioinvasions and community shifts along the Mid-Atlantic Coast, USA - Biological Invasions The Mid-Atlantic waters of North America are warming faster than > 90% of other global oceans, leading to significant increases in bottom water temperatures and influencing shifts in marine community ...

Findings from the first-ever marine #bioinvasions Rapid Assessment Survey along the Mid-Atlantic USA doi.org/10.1007/s105...

🌊 29 non-indigenous species
🌡️ 7 climate-driven range expansions

Thanks to the amazing lead authors for steering this work — and to everyone for the fun in the field!

After a four-year investigation, a breakthrough study reveals the cause of sea star wasting disease (SSWD). A strain of the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida is the culprit behind the marine epidemic that has killed billions of sea stars since 2013. Read the study: 🔗https://tinyurl.com/4rcb3xpf

Invasive species risk assessment in practice: Insights from a survey of practitioners Risk assessment is an important tool in invasive species prevention and management, providing a structured approach to identify and evaluate the risks posed by non-native species. Despite the widespre...

Check out our new paper published in @neobiota.pensoft.net presenting results of a global survey of risk assessment practitioners to identify where information is sourced, the experience of assessors, and how results are accessed and implemented.

neobiota.pensoft.net/article/1530...

After finding Diadumene lineata in high-shore tidepools with native mosquito larvae, we wondered: are they eating them? Turns out, yes—among many other native prey. Watch these anemones in action at 10× speed.

Research paper entitled "Assessing the ecological relationships of the orange-striped green sea anemone, Diadumene lineata, as a non-indigenous species in British Columbia, Canada

Several orange-striped green sea anemones surrounded by a pink sponge and detritus

Delighted to finally see the work from my honours thesis out in the world! Thanks, Chris Harley @zoology.ubc.ca, for supporting the ambitious amount of fieldwork that went into studying this tiny non-native anemone.

Read it here: doi.org/10.71161/ivb...

Multiple targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework must be addressed to manage invasive alien species in protected areas The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) sets out ambitious global targets to reduce biodiversity loss by 2030 and will determine the conservation agenda for the next decade. Invasive ...

Effectively managing invasive alien species in protected areas requires addressing multiple Global Biodiversity Framework targets, not just Target 6, highlighting the need for integrated conservation strategies.

🔗 doi.org/10.3897/neob...

@tbrresearch.bsky.social @drdeahlieurance.bsky.social

Researchers walking to the shore at sunrise

An octopus in the shallows

Just finished another round of fieldwork in the stunning Langebaan Lagoon MPA—always a privilege to work in such a unique ecosystem. Bonus: my first South African #octopus, spotted in the shallows!

Global Impacts Dataset of Invasive Alien Species (GIDIAS) - Scientific Data Scientific Data - Global Impacts Dataset of Invasive Alien Species (GIDIAS)

The Global Impacts Dataset of Invasive Alien Species (GIDIAS) moves us one step closer to understanding global patterns in alien species impacts. With its roots in the latest IPBES report, this is an important resource
#bioinvasions

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Typology of the ecological impacts of biological invasions Biological invasions alter ecosystems by disrupting ecological processes that can degrade biodiversity, harm human health, and cause massive economic burdens. Existing frameworks to classify the ecolo...

Our new paper just out in @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social

Typology of the ecological impacts of biological invasions 🌏🧪

www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...

led by @laiscarneiro03.bsky.social

@franckcourchamp.bsky.social

#invasivespecies #biologicalinvasions #ecologicalimpacts

New marine alien species Amathia verticillata discovered in Langebaan Lagoon MPA – Stories – Scientific Services – SANParks Alien species are organisms not native to an area, often out-compete indigenous species, for food and space, and usually have no natural predators. Langebaan Lagoon Marine Protected Area (MPA), locate...

Invasive species are a real threat to our oceans. A strange bryozoan that looks like glass noodles (likely from the Caribbean) has turned up in #WestCoastNationalPark. We teamed up with #StellenboschUniversity to assess how widespread it is.

Sponges: nature’s biodiversity monitors 🌊🧽 In partnership with DFO & @ljmuofficial.bsky.social, we're using biofouling on moorings off NS to develop a cutting-edge biodiversity tool. Glass sponges capture environmental DNA (eDNA), revealing species like basking sharks & pilot whales.

Back in Langebaan Lagoon MPA with @zeanenel.bsky.social and @tbrresearch.bsky.social to sample the alien daisy anemone—native to Europe but thriving in South Africa. Alarming to find it in such high densities within regionally endangered seagrass beds. #Bioinvasions

Reciprocity towards nature in the biodiversity science–policy interface Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

The idea of reciprocity between humans and the rest of the living world is receiving increasing attention. Sandra Díaz and myself have long discussed about it in the context of the conceptual framing underpinning IPBES assessments.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Excited to share this collaborative work with SANParks—though less thrilled to report another marine bioinvasion in a South African MPA.

Huge thanks to lead author @sjackland.bsky.social. Read our paper here: doi.org/10.3391/bir....