Our most read blogs of 2025
As 2025 draws to a close, we’ve tallied the numbers to showcase the most popular articles on the Invasives Blog this year, along with a few favourites! This year’s most read blogs capture our collaborations in research and invasive species. We hope your favourites made it onto our most-read list! Take a look…
Our most read blogs of 2024
As 2024 draws to a close, we’ve tallied the numbers to showcase the most popular articles on the Invasives Blog this year, along with a few favourites! This year’s most read blogs capture our collaborations with local communities and youth empowerment. We hope your favourites made it onto our most-read list! Take a look…
What makes invasive apple snail the worst invasive invertebrate of waterways?
This article was originally published on CABI Digital Library Overview: What is the invasive apple snail? The invasive apple snail is a large freshwater snail with a large variation in shell colour. This species is in the ‘top 100 worst invasive species’, and is possibly the most damaging aquatic snail, spreading via canals, rivers and…
Invasive rats: A closer look at 4 species causing problems around the world
The invasion of non-native species is among the primary reasons for the destruction of plants and wildlife across the globe. Rats are considered one of the world’s most invasive species. Second only to humans in their ecological damage. In particular, for small islands, the presence of rats invariably leads to radically reduced populations or extinctions…
Azolla weevil: 100 years of Azolla biocontrol in the UK
Azolla filiculoides is also known as floating water fern or fairy fern. It is a small, aquatic, free-floating fern native to the warm temperate, and tropical regions of the Americas. The species has been introduced around the globe: to Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean, Hawaii, North and sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. It was first suspected…
Crassula – the potent invasive plant being challenged by a microscopic mite
Crassula helmsii (also known as Australian swamp stonecrop, New Zealand pygmyweed, or crassula) is an aquatic or semi-terrestrial succulent plant. The species was initially introduced to the UK in the early 1900s as an oxygenating pond plant. It originates in Australia and New Zealand, as its common names suggest.
Floating pennywort weevil: feasting to control one of the UK’s most invasive aquatic plants
The floating pennywort weevil (Listronotus elongatus) is the latest biological control method to combat the highly invasive aquatic plant, floating pennywort (Hydrocotyle ranunculoides). CABI’s most recent biological control project, the first small-scale releases of the weevil occurred in late 2021, with a national release and monitoring programme launched in 2022.
Invasive species in Sri Lanka: A rising threat
Insufficient resources mean that management of invasive species in Sri Lanka are lacking. Climate change, trade and travel have increased the risk of invasive species in Sri Lanka. Invasive species create disruption to crops and livestock production, affecting the economy. Presently, invasive species disproportionately affect vulnerable rural communities. In Sri Lanka, many farmers rely on…
Fast-growing kudzu plant overwhelms native species
Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata) has become America’s most infamous weed. The quick-growing creeping vine spreads rapidly, outcompeting native grasses and fully-grown trees.
Garlic mustard threatens the rare West Virginia white butterfly
Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolate) is a highly destructive invader in North America. As well as hindering the survival of native plants, it poses a particular threat to the survival of the rare West Virginia white butterfly (Pieris virginiensis).