This paper considers key issues in plant invasion ecology, where findings published since 1990 have significantly improved our understanding of many aspects of invasions. The review focuses on vascular plants invading natural and semi-natural ecosystems, and on fundamental ecological issues relating to species invasiveness and community invasibility. Three big questions
addressed by the SCOPE programme in the 1980s (which species invade; which habitats are invaded; and how can we manage invasions?) still underpin most work in invasion ecology.

The Terai-Duar Savanna Ecoregion is spread over the southern slopes of the Himalayas in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. The Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) lies within this ecoregion covering an area of approximately 49,500 sq km in India and Nepal stretching from the Bagmati River in the East to the Yamuna River in the west.

The ability of many introduced fish species to thrive in degraded aquatic habitats and their potential to impact on aquatic ecosystem structure and function suggest that introduced fish may represent both a symptom and a cause of decline in river health and the integrity of native aquatic communities.

Think of an invasion, and the picture that comes to mind is usually that of planes and tanks, machines and men, shells and gunshots. But animal and plant species also run amok, especially when they enter an ecosystem where they didn t previously exist. Af

Under the Joint Forest Management (JFM) programme in south-western West Bengal, regenerating deciduous forests are being managed for the extraction of numerous plant products, both for commercial benefits and subsistence-level use, on a large scale.

The primary goal of the National Wetlands Policy is to conserve and manage wetlands resources wisely and in a sustainable way with local people

There are few controlled data with which to assess the conservation role of corridors connecting refuges. If corridors were used sufficiently, they could alleviate threats from inbreeding depression and demographic stochasticity. For species that require more resources than are available in single refuges, a network of refuges connected by corridors may allow persistence.

A weed which was carried into India from the United States has spread within a decade across a thousand miles of the country from Bangalore in the south to Kashmir in the north. This prolific plant, Parthenium hysterophorus, has brought with it a near epidemic of contact dermatitis. The outbreak is so serious that the Indian Department of Science and Technology held a meeting to see what can be done to eradicate this unwelcome intruder.

The global push towards a more biomass-based energy sector is ramping up efforts to adopt regionally appropriate high-yielding crops. As potential bioenergy crops are being moved around the world an assessment of the climatic suitability would be a prudent first step in identifying suitable areas of productivity and risk.

To provide alternatives to petroleum-based energy, enhance global security, and reduce carbon emissions, the U.S. government has mandated a greater proportion of energy portfolio be derived from plant-based fuels (i.e., 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act; EISA).

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