Plant invasions: theoretical and practical challenges

Abstract

The conference series on ‘‘Ecology and Management of Alien Plant Invasions’’ (EMAPI) has become the premier international forum for scientific research in the field of plant invasions. The EMAPI story began in April 1992 with the 1st International Workshop on the Ecology and Management of Invasive Riparian and Aquatic Plants at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom (de Waal et al. 1994). EMAPI 2 was held in the Czech Republic in 1993 (Pysek et al. 1995). Since then EMAPI conferences have been held every 2–3 years, in Arizona (Brock et al. 1997), Germany (Starfinger et al. 1998), Italy (Brundu et al. 2001), the United Kingdom (Child et al. 2003), Florida, USA, Poland (Tokarska-Guzik et al. 2008a), and Australia (see Tokarska-Guzik et al. 2008b for a brief summary of the EMAPI history). EMAPI has been influential in shaping the research agenda for the study of plant invasions worldwide. Most conferences yielded an edited book (see above) and over the years the EMAPI book series has become a source of valuable data and case studies on invasive species from many regions of the world (Richardson 2002). Probably more important though have been the collaborations that have been forged through the personal contacts made at EMAPI gatherings. The meetings were initially focussed in Europe and, to a lesser extent, North America. As the quality of presentations and the range of topics increased over the years, EMAPI became an indicator of progress in invasion research in Europe. EMAPI 7 was important in that it was held jointly with the Weed Science Society of America, thus forging new ties between plant invasion ecology and weed science and attracting many participants from North America (Richardson et al. 2004). EMAPI is now truly global in its reach: EMAPI 9 was held in Australia and EMAPI 10 in South Africa. D. M. Richardson (&) Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Matieland 7602, South Africa e-mail: rich@sun.ac.za