On this page, you will find the full list of Thematic Sessions and General Sessions.
THEMATIC SESSION: INVASIONS, HEALTH, AND ECOSYSTEMS
⊹ Louise Hendricks, Meise Botanical Garden, Belgium
⊹ Angeliki Martinou, Joint Services Health Unit Cyprus, Cyprus
This session explores the intersection of biological invasions and the One Health framework, highlighting how invasive alien species (IAS) act as disease vectors and health stressors for humans, animals, and ecosystems. By integrating ecological, veterinary, and public health expertise, we aim to identify novel, technology-driven management strategies that provide co-benefits for biodiversity and global health security. Ultimately, the session seeks to bridge the gap between invasion science and One Health to develop holistic solutions for managing health-relevant invasions in a changing climate.
THEMATIC SESSION: PRIORITIZATION FOR EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT
⊹ Aileen Mill, Newcastle University, UK
To address the challenge of limited resources in invasive alien species (IAS) management, this session explores diverse frameworks for prioritizing species and sites in alignment with KM-GBF Target 6. By examining expert elicitation, data-driven approaches, and spatial cost–benefit tools, we aim to identify the evidence and decision-making factors necessary to implement effective management at scale. The session will feature success stories and challenges in determining IAS priorities, including a review of risk management and eradication frameworks.
THEMATIC SESSION: INTEGRATIVE APPROACHES FOR EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT
⊹ Eva Malta Pinto, CIBIO-InBIO, Portugal
This session presents integrative frameworks that combine diverse data, technologies, and social perspectives to move beyond single-discipline approaches in invasive alien species prioritisation. By showcasing the synergy between emerging tools, such as remote sensing and automated detection, with participatory methods and ethical deliberation, the session explores how to translate complex data into robust, adaptive management decisions. Aligned with the goals of projects like OneSTOP and AlienSMART, this session provides actionable insights for navigating the uncertainty of biological invasions in the Anthropocene.
THEMATIC SESSION: WORKFLOWS IN SUPPORT OF RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT
⊹ Belinda Gallardo, Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (IPE-CSIC), Spain
This session addresses the critical need for data standardization and harmonization in invasion science to unlock the full potential of rapidly growing datasets on alien species. We welcome case studies on integrating disparate data, applying shared taxonomic and geographic standards, and developing reproducible workflows that go beyond basic terminology. By fostering collaboration between researchers, the session aims to establish a common basis for analyzing global invasion trends and work toward unified data standards.
THEMATIC SESSION: QUANTIFYING INVASION IMPACTS
⊹ Atul K. Singh, National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources, India
This session addresses the tension between the socio-economic benefits of intentional species introductions and the resulting impacts on global biodiversity. By moving beyond specific sectors like aquaculture to a broader ecological perspective, the session will present quantified evidence of the risks posed by introduced species and challenge the perception that such introductions are ecologically neutral. Ultimately, the session aims to bridge the gap between production-oriented goals and conservation needs, fostering the development of integrated management action plans that safeguard ecosystems.
THEMATIC SESSION: DRIVERS OF INVASION SUCCESS
⊹ Charlene Gemard, Ghent University, Belgium
This session explores the diverse biological traits and mechanisms that underpin invasion success, with a particular focus on how behavioral and cognitive adaptations enable species to exploit novel environments. By integrating emerging research on animal cognition and behavioral flexibility with traditional life-history and physiological frameworks, we aim to provide a more holistic understanding of what makes an “ideal” invader. Contribution will discuss the potential for functional traits to serve as early-warning indicators of invasiveness, while addressing the interdisciplinary challenges of incorporating complex biological data into predictive management and forecasting models.
THEMATIC SESSION: AQUATIC PLANT INVASIONS: CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS
⊹ Nynke Straatsma, Kenniscentrum Ongewenste Wortelende Waterplanten, Netherlands
This session addresses the growing ecological and socioeconomic challenges posed by invasive aquatic plants, which disrupt biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and water-dependent human activities. By integrating ecological research, technological innovations for monitoring and early detection, and applied management experience, the session aims to advance effective and scalable responses to aquatic plant invasions. Contributions will bridge science, policy, and practice, highlighting harmonized management frameworks, legal contexts, and real-world case studies from large-scale initiatives such as LIFE projects. The session further seeks to promote cross-domain learning by exploring how lessons from aquatic plant management can inform invasive species strategies across ecosystems.
THEMATIC SESSION: REPTILE INVASIONS: CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS
⊹ Marta López-Darias, CSIC (COBIO), Spain
This session provides a forum for sharing current research, management practices, and emerging challenges related to the monitoring, impact assessment, and control of invasive reptiles, with a particular focus on snakes. Reptile invasions pose growing risks to native biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and public safety, yet remain underrepresented in invasion science compared to other taxonomic groups. By bringing together empirical studies, methodological advances, and applied management experiences, the session aims to advance understanding of invasion pathways, impacts, and effective intervention strategies. Contributions will address detection and monitoring tools, impact evaluation, risk assessment, and control or eradication efforts, highlighting both successes and persistent knowledge gaps.
THEMATIC SESSION: A CROSS-SECTORAL APPROACH TO BIOSECURITY
⊹ Marni Manning, National Fire Ant Eradication, Australia
This session explores how modern biosecurity frameworks can be strengthened by integrating strategic insights and methodologies from diverse sectors, such as public health, international trade, and emergency management. By examining cross-sectoral “lessons learned,” we aim to identify innovative approaches for understanding and mitigating the systemic environments that facilitate species incursions. The focus is on translating these external successes into actionable invasion science, fostering a more resilient and adaptive biosecurity infrastructure that leverages global best practices in risk assessment and crisis response.
THEMATIC SESSION: STRENGTHENING ECOSYSTEM RESILIENCE
⊹ Maria C. van Riel, Radboud University, the Netherlands
This session explores the Ecosystem Resilience Approach (ERA) as a sustainable alternative to traditional eradication or control, focusing on strengthening biotic resistance of habitats or to naturally suppress the dominance of invasive alien species (IAS). By identifying ecological “weak spots” and utilizing native competition to limit IAS impact, ERA aims to foster diverse, self-sustaining ecosystems where alien species are integrated without compromising biodiversity. The session welcomes contributions on the practical implementation of this low-intervention strategy, highlighting its long-term cost-effectiveness and its role in building resistance against future biological invasions.
THEMATIC SESSION: INNOVATION IN INVASION INFORMATICS
⊹ Quentin Groom, Meise Botanic Garden, Belgium
This session examines how advances in invasion informatics, from machine learning and eDNA to open data infrastructures, can be transitioned from isolated projects into sustainable, international management tools. By focusing on the development of interoperable pipelines and FAIR data standards, the session aims to bridge the gap between digital innovation and long-term governance. Contributions will demonstrate how integrated data systems and co-designed digital tools can reduce duplication of effort and provide scalable, transparent solutions for monitoring and prioritizing invasive alien species globally.
THEMATIC SESSION: TRANSFORMING INVASION SCIENCE WITH BIG DATA
⊹ Ana Novoa Perez, Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
This session explores how conservation culturomics and iEcology leverage large-scale digital data—such as social media, search trends, and user-generated content—to overcome traditional constraints in monitoring invasive species. By providing cost-effective, real-time insights into both ecological dynamics and human–nature relationships, these digital approaches enhance early-warning capacities and help map public attitudes toward management strategies. The session synthesizes cutting-edge case studies to demonstrate how integrating digital data into invasion science can transform research practice and support socially informed, evidence-based management.
GENERAL SESSION: HUMAN DIMENSIONS OF IAS
This session focuses on the interactions between invasive alien species (IAS) and people. It welcomes contributions on social perceptions, stakeholder attitudes, human behaviour, conflict, health implications, risk perception, communication, and public engagement related to IAS. Abstracts addressing One Health, citizen science, societal impacts, ethics, or the role of human decision-making in invasions are particularly relevant here.
GENERAL SESSION: IAS MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
This session covers practical and strategic approaches to preventing, controlling, eradicating, or mitigating IAS. Suitable abstracts include work on prioritisation, decision-support tools, monitoring and surveillance, early detection and rapid response, adaptive management, restoration-oriented strategies, and applied case studies that inform management practice across taxa and ecosystems.
GENERAL SESSION: INVASION IMPACTS AND INVASION DYNAMICS
This session addresses the ecological, evolutionary, and biogeographical processes underlying biological invasions. It includes studies on invasion pathways, spread dynamics, drivers of invasion success, population dynamics, trait-based approaches, and quantified impacts on biodiversity, ecosystems, and ecosystem functioning across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine systems.
GENERAL SESSION: POLICY AND GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORKS
This session welcomes contributions examining how invasive species are addressed through policy, legislation, and governance structures. Relevant topics include biosecurity systems, regulatory frameworks, cross-sectoral coordination, international agreements, implementation challenges, and evaluations of policy effectiveness at local, national, or global scales.
GENERAL SESSION: THE ECONOMICS OF INVASIVE SPECIES
This session focuses on the economic dimensions of biological invasions, including damage costs, management costs, cost–benefit analyses, and economic decision-making under uncertainty. Abstracts may address how economic evidence supports prioritisation, prevention, and long-term investment in biosecurity, or explore trade-offs between ecological, social, and economic objectives.
GENERAL SESSION: GENERAL CONTRIBUTIONS
This General Session provides a space for contributions addressing broad or integrative aspects of invasion science that are relevant to the conference scope but are not explicitly covered by the other Thematic or General Sessions.