Herbicide effectiveness in controlling invasive plants under elevated CO: Sufficient evidence to rethink weeds management.

Previous studies have reported that chemical weed control will be less effective for some weed species under future atmospheric CO concentrations. Such reductions in plant sensitivity to herbicides under elevated CO may be due to greater biomass accumulation and differences among growth types. However, these studies have been limited to few growth types (herbaceous and grass species) and to a single herbicide (glyphosate).

Two in one: cryptic species discovered in biological control agent populations using molecular data and crossbreeding experiments.

There are many examples of cryptic species that have been identified through DNA-barcoding or other genetic techniques. There are, however, very few confirmations of cryptic species being reproductively isolated. This study presents one of the few cases of cryptic species that has been confirmed to be reproductively isolated and therefore true species according to the biological species concept.

Alien plant invasions and native plant extinctions: a six-threshold framework.

Biological invasions are widely acknowledged as a major threat to global biodiversity. Species from all major taxonomic groups have become invasive. The range of impacts of invasive taxa and the overall magnitude of the threat is increasing.

A tool to assess potential for alien plant establishment and expansion under climate change.

Predicting the influence of climate change on the potential distribution of naturalised alien plant species is an important and challenging task. While prioritisation of management actions for alien plants under current climatic conditions has been widely adopted, very few systems explicitly incorporate the potential of future changes in climate conditions to influence the distribution of alien plant species. Here, we develop an Australia-wide screening tool to assess the potential of naturalised alien plants to establish and spread under both current and future climatic conditions.

Next-generation invaders? Hotspots for naturalised sleeper weeds in Australia under future climates.

Naturalised, but not yet invasive plants, pose a nascent threat to biodiversity. As climate regimes continue to change, it is likely that a new suite of invaders will emerge from the established pool of naturalised plants. Pre-emptive management of locations that may be most suitable for a large number of potentially invasive plants will help to target monitoring, and is vital for effective control.