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Invasive species are a significant economic and ecological problem, and most invasion research focuses on how to manage invasive species to prevent or mitigate their impacts.

But because they can alter ecosystems in novel ways, invasive species also provide unique opportunities to address fundamental questions about ecological processes.

I will illustrate this with two case studies showing how invasions allow us to answer otherwise difficult to address questions about:

1. the cascading effects of species losses in networks of interacting species; and
2. the role of vertebrate seed dispersal in tropical forests.

Richard Duncan is Centenary Professor of Conservation Ecology at The Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra. His research focuses on ecology and conservation, particularly biological invasions and extinctions. His recent work examines the ways in which invasive species arrive, establish, spread and impact natural ecosystems.

Seminar hosted by Tempo and Mode: Centre for Macroevolution and Macroecology.