Articles

A new collaborative study involving FISC postdoctoral researcher Shuya Fan shows how dark diversity can help explain invasion success. The research offers a new perspective on Darwin’s naturalization conundrum and highlights the value of looking not only at species that are present, but also at those ecologically expected yet absent.

Trees can delay leaf-out to escape insect damage. A new study co-authored by A. Liebhold (FISC) shows that past herbivory shifts budburst timing, reducing future damage by up to 55% and helping explain why climate-driven changes in tree phenology are slower than expected.

Aditya Ganesh from the Forest Invasion Synthesis Centre, Prague (FISC) has published a new study in Forest Ecology and Management, examining the risk of pest damage to non-native Douglas-fir plantations worldwide. The study shows that although suitable conditions for pest establishment exist, the risk of large-scale damage remains low under current climates.

In his presentation at the Northwest Science Association Annual Meeting, Andrew Liebhold explored how globalization and plantation forestry are breaking down long-standing biogeographic barriers between regions. As non-native trees spread globally, they are increasingly accompanied by herbivores, pathogens and other organisms that reshape forest ecosystems.

A new international study published in Science suggests that climate change could dramatically increase forest disturbances across Europe. Wildfires, windstorms and bark beetle outbreaks may affect far larger forest areas by 2100. The research also involved FISC member Prof. Tomáš Hlásny.

Researchers from FISC have published a new study on bark and ambrosia beetle invasions in US forests. Using a nationwide dataset, the authors show that biodiversity does not limit insect invasions, challenging the biotic resistance hypothesis.