Introducing insect biocontrol agents sourced from a plant’s native range is an effective, sustainable management strategy for invasive plants. However, not all biocontrol programmes achieve the desired outcome because control agents either fail to establish or are ineffective. Heather beetle Lochmaea suturalis (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), introduced from the United Kingdom (UK) to New Zealand (NZ) to control the invasive shrub...

Introducing insect biocontrol agents to manage invasive plants is an effective and sustainable management option. However, biocontrol agents sometimes fail to establish or are ineffective in the new range. Heather beetle Lochmaea suturalis, (Thomson, 1866) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) sourced from the United Kingdom (UK), was introduced into New Zealand’s North Island Central Plateau (CP) to control invasive Calluna vulgaris (L...

The impacts of invasive plants on arthropod communities are often reported to be negative and have predominantly been explored aboveground, but there is a paucity of information regarding what happens belowground. To address this gap, we compared soil properties and soil fauna communities associated with two native plant species ( Leptospermum scoparium —mānuka and Chionochloa rubra —red tussock) and two invasive species (non-...

Landscape fragmentation and exotic species invasions are two modern‐day forces that have strong and largely irreversible effects on native diversity worldwide. The spatial arrangement of habitat fragments is critical in affecting movement of individuals through a landscape, but little is known about how invasive species respond to landscape configuration relative to native species. This information is crucial for managing the...