Dawson Ecology Lab

Category: Uncategorized

  • New Zealand; New PhD Student; New Grant

    It’s been a while since we posted about the lab, so we have accumulated three new news items! First, Alison and I attended the Ecology and Management of Plant Invasions (EMAPI) conference in Lincoln, Aotearoa New Zealand back in September. Alison presented a flashtalk and poster on her recent vegetation survey work on Bermuda, and…

  • Congratulations to Alison: The introduced and invasive flora of Bermuda is now published!

    Alison has just had the first chapter of her PhD published, which provides the most comprehensive flora of Bermuda’s vascular plants that includes all known introduced and invasive plant species. You can find the study (open access) here. Take-home message: Bermuda’s flora is dominated by introduced plant species, outnumbering native species by more than 10…

  • New publications from an old lab member

    Katy Ivison (formerly a PhD student in the lab), had double success recently, with publications from her PhD in Oikos and in Diversity & Distributions (DDI). The Oikos study was a complex multi-species experiment, assessing the effects of artifical warming, reduced herbivory and native competition on introduced plant performance in Norway. Find out more by…

  • Goodbye to Pierre, and to Durham

    Towards the end of 2023, we had some farewells. First, Pierre completed his 2-year postdoc working on introduced plants and inverstebrates and their responses to climate change on South Georgia We wish him every success for his new postdoc position. Second, Wayne had his last day in office at Durham University, and will start his…

  • Peter passed his viva!

    Peter has successfully defended his PhD thesis on the impacts of prickly pear cacti on wild mammals in Laikipia, Kenya: a brilliant unconditional pass! Appropriately themed cake to celebrate the occasion…

  • The DISc Lab went to Kew!

    Alison, Katy, Peter, Pierre and Wayne met up at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, for a big botanical day out last Saturday. We all came away with different favourite plants, but mine still must by the Jade Vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys). A hot sunny day, the glasshouses were stunning but sweltering!

  • New study on the spatiotemporal dynamics of freshwater fish introduction

    A new study has been published in Global Ecology & Biogeography, led by Rafael Muñoz-Mas and Emili García-Berthou (and coauthored by Wayne), which charts the global spatiotemporal patterns of freshwater fish introductions over two centuries. Find out more here!

  • Peter submitted his thesis!

    Peter Stewart submitted his PhD thesis (on how invasive plants impact wild mammals) this week! Peter’s also also starting his first post-doc at the University of Stirling. Congratulations and good luck, Peter!

  • New study on the impacts of land-use on non-native species worldwide

    A new study led by Daijun Liu (University of Vienna) and coauthored by Wayne was published in Nature Communications. The study used data from the PREDICTS database, Global Naturalised Alien Flora (GloNAF) and other non-native species databases to assess how land-use change affects the incidence and number of non-native species in local assemblages in sites…

  • Pierre made it back from South Georgia

    Pierre had a great field season on South Georgia, and made it back in one piece. The weather looked fab, and A LOT of veg and invert data were collected. Carabid beetles aplenty it seems. Stay tuned for results! Here’s Pierre on Barff peninsula: