Recent Invasion Research Articles

(De-)Legitimizing War: a linguistic analysis of Indian and Pakistani civil and military conflict discourses

ABSTRACT Language serves a decisive role for world leaders and politicians to legitimize their decisions to use a military option and wage a war to establish their ideologies. This work analyses the discursive legitimization strategies practiced by neighbouring states, India and Pakistan, in war discourse after a terrorist attack in Pulwama to legitimize their military actions. ‘Strategies of Legitimization’, as envisaged by Reyes (2011) is employed as a framework. The sample comprises four military press conferences and four prime ministers’ speeches. The results show that Indian civil and military discourse focused on the emotional aspect of legitimization augmented by the voices of experts and altruism to convince people to support war against Pakistan and take revenge for the Pulwama Attack. Pakistani civil and military discourse used emotions, hypothetical future, rationality, expert voices, and altruism to achieve legitimization for their no-action policy to avoid war. The study shows both religious states feed their people with emotional sentiments against each other and take an altruistic approach to the global community to rationalize their actions. Pakistan, a comparatively smaller economy, shows itself to be a harbinger of peace, whereas India roused emotions for immediate military engagement to achieve its political agenda. This article shows how acts of war are linguistically constructed to convince the public that war is inevitable. Such legitimization can in turn affect the global economy and peace, as in the recent Russian invasion that has caused global inflation and price hikes.

Civil society and sense of community in Ukraine: from dormancy to action

ABSTRACT The academic literature offers different views on the strength of Ukraine’s civil society, but Ukraine’s massive civic engagement and collective action, most recently in defense against Russian aggression, offers a startling picture of grass-root activism. Based on interviews, surveys and archival research, we highlight changes and nuances to Ukrainian civil society, civic engagement and motivations over time, from Euromaidan, through the hybrid Russian aggression in the East, to the recent full-scale Russian invasion. In doing so, we explore a more inclusive understanding of civil society complemented by sense of community and community responsibility.

It's a small world for parasites: evidence supporting the North American invasion of European Echinococcus multilocularis.

Echinococcus multilocularis (Em), the causative agent of human alveolar echinococcosis (AE), is present in the Holarctic region, and several genetic variants deem to have differential infectivity and pathogenicity. An unprecedented outbreak of human AE cases in Western Canada infected with a European-like strain circulating in wild hosts warranted assessment of whether this strain was derived from a recent invasion or was endemic but undetected. Using nuclear and mitochondrial markers, we investigated the genetic diversity of Em in wild coyotes and red foxes from Western Canada, compared the genetic variants identified to global isolates and assessed their spatial distribution to infer possible invasion dynamics. Genetic variants from Western Canada were closely related to the original European clade, with lesser genetic diversity than that expected for a long-established strain and spatial genetic discontinuities within the study area, supporting the hypothesis of a relatively recent invasion with various founder events.

Virulence of entomopathogenic fungi against fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) under laboratory conditions.

Maize is an essential crop of China. The recent invasion of Spodoptera frugiperda, also known as fall armyworm (FAW), poses a danger to the country's ability to maintain a sustainable level of productivity from this core crop. Entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) Metarhizium anisopliae MA, Penicillium citrinum CTD-28 and CTD-2, Cladosporium sp. BM-8, Aspergillus sp. SE-25 and SE-5, Metarhizium sp. CA-7, and Syncephalastrum racemosum SR-23 were tested to determine their effectiveness in causing mortality in second instars, eggs, and neonate larvae. Metarhizium anisopliae MA, P. citrinum CTD-28, and Cladosporium sp. BM-8 caused the highest levels of egg mortality, with 86.0, 75.3, and 70.0%, respectively, followed by Penicillium sp. CTD-2 (60.0%). Additionally, M. anisopliae MA caused the highest neonatal mortality of 57.1%, followed by P. citrinum CTD-28 (40.7%). In addition, M. anisopliae MA, P. citrinum CTD-28, and Penicillium sp. CTD-2 decreased the feeding efficacy of second instar larvae of FAW by 77.8, 75.0, and 68.1%, respectively, followed by Cladosporium sp. BM-8 (59.7%). It is possible that EPF will play an important role as microbial agents against FAW after further research is conducted on the effectiveness of these EPF in the field.

Buffer zones and international rivalry: internal and external geographic separation mechanisms

Abstract The recent Russian invasion of Ukraine has led many commentators to remark that ‘geopolitics is back’. And with geopolitics, the interest in buffer zones is back as well. Yet, International Relations scholarship on buffer zones is confusing and outdated. Scholars disagree on the definition of buffer zones and whether such zones are a vestige of the great power politics of the past or a continuous phenomenon. In this article, we take three steps to reconceptualize buffer zones and their role in international relations. First, we clarify the conceptual confusion by advancing a new definition differentiating between nominal and active buffer zones. Second, we make the case that buffer states and internal buffer zones (i.e., geographic borderlands located within states in rivalry, adjacent to the international borders between the two rivals) share much in common and therefore should be analysed in tandem. Third, we offer a typology of buffer zones with short case-studies based on the dyadic relations of rival states vis-à-vis buffer zones between them. Our goal is to provide a new analytical framework that can serve as a base for a robust research agenda on the role of buffer zones in regional and international stability and security.

Interstate war and food security: Implications from Russia's invasion of Ukraine

In this article, we review and shed light on the interlinkages between interstate war and food insecurity and discuss global policy actions needed to address the challenges of food insecurity due to interstate war. We conceptualize the interlinkages between these two issues with a focus on: (i) the most critical and direct cause of interstate war, namely geo (territorial) political conflict, and (ii) the mechanisms through which interstate war affects four different food security pillars, namely food availability, food access, food utilization, and food stability. We position that, if unsuccessfully addressed, geo (territorial) political conflicts will create a vicious cycle of violence and hunger. This position is illustrated by analyzing recent Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Herein a summary of the root and nature of the invasion and how it has affected global food security is presented, with a discussion on the potential considerations and solutions to avoid the cycle of violence and hunger.

Donor-side and user-side evaluation of the Atlantic blue crab invasion on a Mediterranean lagoon

The recent invasion of Callinectes sapidus in the Lesina Lagoon has raised great concern about its potential impacts on the ecosystem and on local fisheries. The effects of the blue crab presence on the receiving ecosystem were evaluated from both a donor-side perspective, through the application of emergy analysis, and a user-side perspective, by means of interviews to the local fishermen. While emergy analysis showed that C. sapidus brings to an increase of both natural capital and ecosystem functions values, results from interviews highlighted that the major problem caused by the presence of the blue crab in the lagoon concerned the local economy. As the first quantitative assessment of the ecological and economic impact of C. sapidus in invaded habitats, the present investigation provided original and useful information for a comprehensive risk assessment of the species in European waters and in Mediterranean Sea.

Population genetic structure of a recent insect invasion: a gall midge, Asynapta groverae (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) in South Korea since the first outbreak in 2008

Outbreaks of Asynapta groverae, an invasive mycophagous gall midge, in South Korea have been repeatedly reported since the first occurrence in 2008. This species is a nuisance to residents owing to its mass emergence from newly built and furnished apartments. Here, the levels of genetic diversity, divergence, and structure of invasive A. groverae populations were investigated to understand their ability to survive in novel locations. Population genetic analyses were performed on seven invasive populations, including the first outbreak, sporadically emerged, and two laboratory-isolated (quarantined) populations, using the mitochondrial COI sequences and the ten novel microsatellite markers developed in this study. Non-indigenous A. groverae managed to maintain their populations for 12 years despite decreased genetic polymorphisms resulting from multiple incidences of founder effects by a small number of colonists. Additionally, the advantageous sustainability of A. groverae in the particle boards from which they emerge suggests that human-mediated dispersal is plausible, which may allow for the successful spread or invasion of A. groverae to new locations. This study is one of the few examples to demonstrate that an insect species successfully invaded new regions despite exhibiting decreased genetic diversity that was maintained for a decade. These findings indicate that the high genetic diversity of the initial founding population and asexual reproduction would contribute to the successful invasion of A. groverae in novel environments.

Seasonal dynamics of Anopheles stephensi and its implications for mosquito detection and emergent malaria control in the Horn of Africa

Invasion of the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi across the Horn of Africa threatens control efforts across the continent, particularly in urban settings where the vector is able to proliferate. Malaria transmission is primarily determined by the abundance of dominant vectors, which often varies seasonally with rainfall. However, it remains unclear how An. stephensi abundance changes throughout the year, despite this being a crucial input to surveillance and control activities. We collate longitudinal catch data from across its endemic range to better understand the vector's seasonal dynamics and explore the implications of this seasonality for malaria surveillance and control across the Horn of Africa. Our analyses reveal pronounced variation in seasonal dynamics, the timing and nature of which are poorly predicted by rainfall patterns. Instead, they are associated with temperature and patterns of land use; frequently differing between rural and urban settings. Our results show that timing entomological surveys to coincide with rainy periods is unlikely to improve the likelihood of detecting An. stephensi. Integrating these results into a malaria transmission model, we show that timing indoor residual spraying campaigns to coincide with peak rainfall offers little improvement in reducing disease burden compared to starting in a random month. Our results suggest that unlike other malaria vectors in Africa, rainfall may be a poor guide to predicting the timing of peaks in An. stephensi-driven malaria transmission. This highlights the urgent need for longitudinal entomological monitoring of the vector in its new environments given recent invasion and potential spread across the continent.

Feeding the fire: Annual grass invasion facilitates modeled fire spread across Inland Northwest forest‐mosaic landscapes

AbstractInvasive annual grasses are a growing global concern because they facilitate larger and more frequent fires in historically fuel‐limited ecosystems. Forests of the western United States have remained relatively resistant to invasion by annual grasses and their subsequent impacts. However, where forests are adjacent to invaded areas, increased fire spread across ecotones could alter fire behavior and ecosystem resilience. In the Inland Northwest, USA, recent invasion by the annual grass ventenata (Ventenata dubia) has increased fine fuel loads and continuity in nonforest patches embedded within the forested landscape. Despite ventenata's rapid spread across the American West and growing management concern, little is known regarding how invasion influences fire within invaded vegetation types or its potential to alter landscape‐scale fire and management practices. Here, we examine how the ventenata invasion alters simulated fire across forest‐mosaic landscapes of the 7 million ha Blue Mountains Ecoregion using the large fire simulator (FSim) with custom fuel landscapes: present‐day invaded versus historic uninvaded. Invasion increased simulated mean fire size, burn probability, and flame lengths throughout the ecoregion, and the strength of these impacts varied by location and scale. Changes at the ecoregion scale were relatively modest given that fine fuels increased in only 2.8% of the ecoregion where ventenata invaded historically fuel‐limited vegetation types. However, strong localized changes were simulated within invaded patches (primarily dwarf‐shrublands) and where invasion facilitated fire spread into nearby forests. Within invaded patches, burn probabilities increased by 45%, and higher flame lengths required fire management strategies to shift from direct to indirect attack, requiring large machinery. Forests with 25% of their neighborhood invaded experienced a 28% increase in burn probability and 16% increase in the probability of experiencing flame lengths likely to produce crown fire (flame lengths >2.4 m). Increased canopy loss could have severe implications for forest resilience given that invasive grasses can heavily invade early seral dry conifer forests and limit postfire forest recovery. Our study demonstrates how annual grass invasion can influence fire behavior and resilience across forest landscapes despite primarily invading nonforested areas, and highlights invasion as an important management issue in an expansive forest‐mosaic ecosystem.

Of clockwork and catastrophes: advances in spatiotemporal dynamics of forest Lepidoptera.

We applied a systematic global literature survey from the last 2.5 years on spatiotemporal population dynamics - broadly defined - of Lepidopteran forest pests. Articles were summarized according to domain-specific (planetary ecology - remote sensing,evolutionary ecology - genetics and genomics,and theoretical ecology - modeling) contributions to contemporary investigation of the above theme. 'Model systems' dominating our literature survey were native Choristoneura fumiferana and invasive Lymantria dispar. These systems represent opposing ends of a more general equilibrium-disequilibrium gradient, with implications for less-studied taxa. Thedynamics of Lepidopteran systems defy simple modeling approaches. Technologies and insights emerging from 'slower' science domains are informing more complex theory, including predictions of spread, impacts, or both posed by more recent invasions and the disrupting effects of climate change.

Widespread and ongoing invasion by the ant Technomyrmex brunneus Forel in eastern Asia as elucidated by molecular data

AbstractAnts are among the most pervasive and impactful invasive species. While some characteristics of invasive ants have been linked to establishment success and competitive dominance, these traits are not universal to all successful invaders and much crucial information on the biology of both well‐known and lesser‐known invasive ants remains lacking. In this study, we address this knowledge gap using a molecular approach to define the ongoing invasion by the white‐footed ant, Technomyrmex brunneus, in eastern Asia. This species is native to eastern and south‐eastern Asia but has become a problematic invader in Japan where significant expansions in range have been documented in recent decades. Its status in eastern Asia is complicated by taxonomic confusion and misidentifications, creating significant hurdles to threat assessment, management, and the establishment of fundamental information such as the delineation of the native and invasive range. We combine mitochondrial DNA sequences with genome‐wide single‐nucleotide polymorphisms to elucidate relationships between populations from Vietnam to Japan. Our data reveal very limited genetic differentiation among populations despite their broad geographic spread. This can most parsimoniously be explained as a recent and ongoing invasion, likely facilitated by human dispersal. The one exception to this pattern was strong genetic distinction between two regions in China indicated by mitochondrial DNA. We speculate that this may indicate a boundary between a native population and more recent wave of invasion. Finally, we present the results of climate niche modeling indicating that extensive additional areas remain suitable for this species, suggesting this invasion is far from complete.

Acoustic methods improve the detection of the endangered African manatee

The African manatee (Trichechus senegalensis) is an elusive, data-deficient, and endangered species which inhabits marine and freshwater systems throughout Western and Central Africa. A major challenge in understanding the species ecology and distribution is the difficulty in detecting it using traditional visual surveys. The recent invasion of Giant Salvinia (Salvinia molesta) at the most important site for the species in Cameroon further limits their detectability and may restrict their movements and habitat use. To investigate methods’ effectiveness in detecting African manatees, we conducted monthly vessel surveys from which visual point scans, 360° sonar scans, and passive acoustic monitoring were conducted simultaneously at ten locations and over 12 months in Lake Ossa, Cameroon. Manatee detection frequency was calculated for each method and the influence of some environmental conditions on the methods’ effectiveness and manatee detection likelihood was assessed by fitting a binary logistic regression to our data. Detection frequencies were significantly different between methods (p < 0.01) with passive acoustics being the most successful (24.17%; n = 120), followed by the 360° sonar scan (11.67%; n = 120), and the visual point scan (3.33%; n = 120). The likelihood of detecting manatees in Lake Ossa was significantly influenced by water depth (p = 0.02) and transparency (p < 0.01). It was more likely to detect manatees in shallower water depths and higher water transparency. Passive acoustic detections were more effective in uninvaded areas of the Lake. We recommend using passive acoustics to enhance African manatee detections in future surveys.

Established but not spreading: the tropical invasive snail Melanoides tuberculata in a geothermally warmed channel in temperate Southern Pampas

Melanoides tuberculata is a freshwater snail native to Old World tropical areas but has invaded tropical and subtropical regions around the world. In Argentina, populations established in natural environments were reported from northeastern tropical provinces. Here we report for the first time the presence of M. tuberculata in a geothermally warmed channel in temperate Southern Pampas. We mapped its distribution in the channel, searched for its presence in five nearby basins, estimated the risk of establishment and expansion in Argentina with distribution models and analyzed shape variation through geometric morphometrics. Melanoides tuberculata was recorded exclusively in the channel in sites with temperatures between 20 and 40°C, with almost no overlap with other snails. No evidence of M. tuberculata was found in nearby basins. The distribution model predicted that only northernmost areas from Argentina are suitable for this species, where it could impact snail communities and food webs if introduction through the aquarium trade is not prevented. The absence of males indicates parthenogenetic reproduction and probably a recent invasion. Shell shape variation in this population, 15 % of which is attributable to allometry, encompasses the shapes of specimens from other South American populations, suggesting that all belong to the same lineage.

Član 11. Italijanskog ustava - između domaćeg i međunarodnog prava

Starting from the recent invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army, this essay reflects on the meaning, scope, and application of Article 11 of the Italian Constitution. In particular, the paper analyzes, from a diachronic perspective, the rejection of war by examining its practical implications and focusing on the interrelationships between constitutional law and international law in defining the concept of war and collective self-defense.

Interference competition following a recent invasion of plague skinks (Lampropholis delicata) into a nationally critical native skink population

Context Invasive species can threaten native species through exploitative and interference competition if they occupy similar ecological niches. The invasive plague skink (Lampropholis delicata) has been accidently introduced to New Zealand, Lord Howe Island, and the Hawaiian Islands. Resource usage overlaps between plague skinks and several New Zealand skinks, suggesting the potential for exploitative and interference competition. However, no competitive mechanism or population impact has been identified. In 2014–15, plague skinks colonised Bream Head Scenic Reserve, Northland, New Zealand, where they overlap in occupancy and habitat with the ‘Nationally Critical’ kakerakau skink (Oligosoma kakerakau). Aims We investigated intra- and interspecific interference competition between kakerakau and plague skinks in the wild. Methods We recorded naturally occurring encounters and quantified aggression at a short-lived resource (sun-basking sites). Key results Behavioural interactions were observed in 72% of all encounters with similar proportions of encounters resulting in agonistic interactions between intraspecific kakerakau skink encounters and interspecific kakerakau-plague encounters. Although kakerakau skinks and plague skinks reacted equally aggressively in an interspecific interaction, kakerakau skinks behaved significantly more aggressively in an interaction with a plague skink than with a conspecific. Juvenile kakerakau skinks were more likely than adults to exhibit submissive behaviours such as fleeing during interspecific interactions. Conclusions This is the first evidence of interference competition occurring between plague skinks and a native skink. Our study suggests that kakerakau skinks, particularly juveniles, may experience competitive exclusion at important resources. Implications Our findings indicate that plague skinks may pose a threat to native skink populations when habitat use overlaps.

EXTENSION OF A FOREST-FIRE MODEL TO SIMULATE HOW COVID-19 VIRUS CAUSES OSCILLATORY POPULATION DYNAMICS

The global spread of infectious diseases and their associated social impacts have been proved to cause havoc to humans with the recent pandemic invasion of COVID-19. Understanding the spread pattern of COVID-19 and predicting the disease dynamics have been inevitable to support government in the public and private health fields in setting up strategies for alleviating the dire seriousness of the pandemic around the World. The spread of infectious disease and the resulting population dynamics could be modeled and simulated by extending the classic "forest-fire" model with an introduction of 3 model parameters of p, q, r that control the probability of infection, immunity, and spread. Then, by applying the mathematical model of damped harmonic oscillation from physics, the effect of these parameters on the amplitude and frequency of oscillations of an epidemic could be characterized. We concluded that this model could predict a wide range of behaviors including Covid-10 that could aid epidemiologists and policymakers. Further study might be required for practical application.

Applying the Cultural Anthropological Approaches in Conflict Resolution: The Case of “Comfort Women”

With the recent Russian invasion, China’s rise, and North Korean missile launches, there is an increased importance for the United States to strengthen its East Asian allies, South Korea and Japan. These two countries, however, have a long history of disputes that resulted from the legacy of the Second World War. One of them is the comfort women issue. More than 200,000 teenage Korean girls were taken by Japanese soldiers as sex slaves during the 1930s and 1940s. They are called comfort women. In December 2015, the South Korean and Japanese governments reached an agreement to resolve the issue of comfort women, getting an apology from the Japanese government. However, the surviving comfort women showed resentment toward this agreement and condemned the Korean government for reaching the agreement with the Japanese government. Why do the comfort women and many South Koreans reject this agreement? Also, two different understandings of the identically written accord have brought social conflict in South Korea. Where do these discrepancies in understanding the same accord come from? Applying the three conceptual frameworks—emic and etic approaches in cultural anthropology, the inclusive and restricted models of conflict resolution, and different levels of reconciliation—this paper analyzes the discrepancies in how people analyze and approach conflict resolution and highlights the importance of the cultural anthropological approaches in conflict resolution and reconciliation.

(Epi)genomic adaptation driven by fine geographical scale environmental heterogeneity after recent biological invasions.

Elucidating processes and mechanisms involved in rapid local adaptation to varied environments is a poorly understood but crucial component in management of invasive species. Recent studies have proposed that genetic and epigenetic variation could both contribute to ecological adaptation, yet it remains unclear on the interplay between these two components underpinning rapid adaptation in wild animal populations. To assess their respective contributions to local adaptation, we explored epigenomic and genomic responses to environmental heterogeneity in eight recently colonized ascidian (Ciona intestinalis) populations at a relatively fine geographical scale. Based on MethylRADseq data, we detected strong patterns of local environment-driven DNA methylation divergence among populations, significant epigenetic isolation by environment (IBE), and a large number of local environment-associated epigenetic loci. Meanwhile, multiple genetic analyses based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) showed genomic footprints of divergent selection. In addition, for five genetically similar populations, we detected significant methylation divergence and local environment-driven methylation patterns, indicating the strong effects of local environments on epigenetic variation. From a functional perspective, a majority of functional genes, Gene Ontology (GO) terms, and biological pathways were largely specific to one of these two types of variation, suggesting partial independence between epigenetic and genetic adaptation. The methylation quantitative trait loci (mQTL) analysis showed that the genetic variation explained only 18.67% of methylation variation, further confirming the autonomous relationship between these two types of variation. Altogether, we highlight the complementary interplay of genetic and epigenetic variation involved in local adaptation, which may jointly promote populations' rapid adaptive capacity and successful invasions in different environments. The findings here provide valuable insights into interactions between invaders and local environments to allow invasive species to rapidly spread, thus contributing to better prediction of invasion success and development of management strategies.

Genetic diversity and structure of a recent fish invasion: Tench (Tinca tinca) in eastern North America.

Introduced and geographically expanding populations experience similar eco-evolutionary challenges, including founder events, genetic bottlenecks, and novel environments. Theory predicts that reduced genetic diversity resulting from such phenomena limits the success of introduced populations. Using 1900 SNPs obtained from restriction-site-associated DNA sequencing, we evaluated hypotheses related to the invasion history and connectivity of an invasive population of Tench (Tinca tinca), a Eurasian freshwater fish that has been expanding geographically in eastern North America for three decades. Consistent with the reported history of a single introduction event, our findings suggest that multiple introductions from distinct genetic sources are unlikely as Tench had a small effective population size (~114 [95% CI=106-123] individuals), no strong population subdivision across time and space, and evidence of a recent genetic bottleneck. The large genetic neighbourhood size (220 km) and weak within-population genetic substructure suggested high connectivity across the invaded range, despite the relatively large area occupied. There was some evidence for a small decay in genetic diversity as the species expanded northward, but not southward, into new habitats. As eradicating the species within a ~112 km radius would be necessary to prevent recolonization, eradicating Tench is likely not feasible at watershed-and possibly local-scales. Management should instead focus on reducing abundance in priority conservation areas to mitigate adverse impacts. Our study indicates that introduced populations can thrive and exhibit relatively high levels of genetic diversity despite severe bottlenecks (<1.5% of the ancestral effective population size) and suggests that landscape heterogeneity and population demographics can generate variability in spatial patterns of genetic diversity within a single range expansion.