Invasive species are one of the major causes of biodiversity loss, especially in island ecosystems. However, introduced plants can also bring positive effects to the ecosystem by providing feeding resources for native threatened fauna. Here, the bird guild and its behaviour visiting the invasive century plant Agave americana in an insular environment is describe, and factors are affecting visitation rates were determined.

Polyandry (female multiple mating) has profound evolutionary and ecological implications. Despite considerable work devoted to understanding why females mate multiply, no convincing empirical evidence explains the adaptive value of polyandry. In this study it is provided a direct test of the controversial idea that bet-hedging functions as a risk-spreading strategy that yields multi-generational fitness benefits to polyandrous females.

The consequences of sexual interactions extend beyond the simple production of offspring. These interactions typically entail direct effects on female fitness, but may also impact the life histories of later generations. Evaluating the cross-generational effects of sexual interactions provides insights into the dynamics of sexual selection and conflict. Such studies can elucidate whether offspring fitness optima diverge across sexes upon heightened levels of sexual interaction among parents.

Without better local management, the world’s most iconic ecosystems are at risk of collapse under climate change, say researchers in Science. Protecting places of global environmental importance such as the Great Barrier Reef and the Amazon rainforest from climate change will require reducing the other pressures they face, for example overfishing, fertilizer pollution or land clearing.

Unravelling how a multiplicity of global change factors might influence the expansion of alien plants is a major goal of invasion biology. In this article, the association of climatic conditions and water quality, with blooms of the invasive fern Azolla filiculoides in the Doñana marshland, one of the most extensive wetlands in Europe, are explored.