Invasive Birds: Global Trends and Impacts

Author Biography

Colleen T. Downs (Edited By) Prof. Colleen T. Downs is a South African Research Chair and has been based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal since 1994. Her research interests are broad and interdisciplinary, spanning the conservation, ecology, physiology and behaviour of terrestrial vertebrates with changing land use. This includes ecosystem health in KwaZulu-Natal, incorporating conservation, general biology and persistence of mammal, herpetological and bird species with changing land use (including urban ecology). There is a focus on species such as Cape parrots, bushbuck, oribi, pelicans, Cape vultures, Nile crocodiles, fruit bats, raptors, small carnivores and feral cats. Her other key contribution has been in the development of increased research capacity at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Her research group is currently investigating ecosystem health and functionality across a range of taxa and biomes in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces of South Africa, with a focus on species distributions, persistence and anthropogenic threats. They have also produced recommendations for conservation and landscape managers on how best to preserve ecosystem functionality based on sound ecological research. Lorinda A. Hart (Edited By) Dr. Lorinda A. Hart is a lecturer at the University of Namibia and Honorary Researcher at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Her research interests are broad, covering ecophysiology, and urban and invasive ecology. Her PhD focused on avian and bat frugivores which feed on invasive fruits commonly found in South Africa, quantifying the effects that these frugivores have on invasive seed germination and the energetic rewards they gain. After her PhD she conducted public surveys and determined the current distribution of the rose-ringed parakeet in the in the greater Durban Metropolitan area of eThekwini. She is currently involved in several projects examining a range of species including fruit bats, birds of prey, woolly-necked storks and a variety of seabirds from the Seychelles. She is also an invasive species consultant with the South African Green Industries Council (SAGIC).