In an age of free international shipments of mail-ordered seeds and plants, more policing will not stop the global migration of hitchhiking pests. The solution is in a preemptive response based on an internationally coordinated genomic deployment of global biodiversity in the largest breeding project since the “Garden of Eden.” This plan will enrich the narrow genetic basis of annual and perennial plants with adaptations to changing environments and resistances to the pests of the future.

Researchers investigated whether Neogobius melanostomus, an invader of biodiversity ‘hot-spots’ in the Laurentian Great Lakes region, facilitates or inhibits unionid mussel recruitment by serving as a host or sink for their parasitic larvae (glochidia). Infestation and metamorphosis rates of four mussel species with at-risk (conservation) status (Epioblasma torulosa rangiana, Epioblasma triquetra, Lampsilis fasciola and Villosa iris) and one common species (Actinonaias ligamentina) on N. melanostomus were compared with rates on known primary and marginal hosts in the laboratory.

Agricultural practices routinely create opportunities for crops to hybridize with wild relatives, leading to crop gene introgression into wild genomes. Conservationists typically worry this introgression could lead to genetic homogenization of wild populations, over and above the central concern of transgene escape. Alternatively, viewing introgression as analogous to species invasion, we suggest that increased genetic diversity may likewise be an undesirable outcome.

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Free-ranging dogs often leave the urbanized areas and stray into nearby mountainous habitats, even entering protected areas. This causes problems for the wildlife due to either direct predation or disturbance. Our camera trap survey (July 2013 - November 2014) in NP Vitosha, Bulgaria resulted in a total of 199 independent registrations of free-ranging dogs in 81 locations. In this preliminary study, we present the distribution, habitat selection, and distance from settlements and activity of free ranging dogs in Vitosha NP.

Exotic organisms introduced into non-native ecosystems may invade and affect the native biodiversity, which might lead to serious ecological, economic and sociological threats. Among the various pathways of introduction of non-native species, on-line pet trading is the most recently emerging method which facilitates rapid introduction of exotic species. Though on-line trading has become an influential factor for the growth of world economy in the current scenario, its role in the introduction of exotic species and their subsequent consequences in countries like India is least studied.

Invasion is an ecological phenomenon of introduction of organisms to areas outside their native ranges. It concerns all aspects relating to their transport, establishment and spread in a new region . An invasive species causes imbalance to the ecosystem by monopolizing food and spatial resources and consequently disrupting the native community . Biological invasion is presently one of the major sources of stress to the coral reef habitats, which harbour 25% of total marine biodiversity and contribute to 10% of total fishery production .

Invasive species are among the primary threats to biodiversity and risk assessment is one problem-solving approach that can prioritize and guide efforts to reduce the negative consequences of invasion. We used a nichemodeling framework to conduct a geographic risk assessment of exotic reptiles in the state of Florida, USA, a region with the highest density of invasive herpetofaunal species in the world. We then compared model predictions with observed records of exotic species across the state.