Abstract

Freshwater habitats are under increasing pressure from multiple anthropogenic pressures. Invasion by non-native plants is an additional threat to riparian ecosystems. Whilst impacts of plant invasions on native flora have been documented, some fundamental gaps in our understanding of their dispersal pathways and effect on riverbank morphology persist. I will discuss how invasive non-native plants shape riparian habitats, contributing to changes beyond altered native plant communities to those which require a holistic approach to future river management.

About the speaker

Zarah’s research is broadly focussed on the dispersal, impacts and management of invasive non-native species. She has expertise in community and ecosystem responses to invasive non-native plant species in freshwater and forest environments and is interested in the threats to water and food security due to invasion by non-native species, particularly in rural landscapes.

She researches understudied dispersal pathways such as Raw Water Transfer schemes and the role of anthropogenic disturbances (e.g., river degradation due to agriculture) in facilitating the spread of invasive non-native species. She is interested in the restoration of habitats degraded by urbanisation and agricultural land use coupled with climate extremes and invasions, particularly the promotion of native species in restoration practices.

Zarah works with various stakeholders to implement and assess management methods tackling invasive non-native species, with a focus on working towards the UN SDG goals 15 and 6, CBD Target 6. You can find out more about Zarah and her research here.