Biological invasions are among the most pressing ecological concerns of the Anthropocene, driving major shifts in ecosystem functioning and disrupting local species assemblages.
Notwithstanding these impacts, biological invasions also provide a unique opportunity for understanding plant ecology. Each invasion can be considered an independent 'natural experiment' on how disrupted, novel, and re-established plant–fungal interactions influence invasion success.
Research on these processes will not only inform environmental management, but also provides insights into plant symbioses, species establishment, and biotic controls over range expansion of all plants, invasive and otherwise.
New Phytologist has played a central role in the field of linked plant–fungal invasions, including the 17th New Phytologist Workshop, which was focussed on the emerging science of linked plant–fungal invasions, and the 45th New Phytologist Symposium on ecological and evolutionary consequences of plant–fungal invasions.
In this Virtual Issue, we bring together work on linked plant–fungal invasions inspired by that symposium along with other related papers from New Phytologist that have contributed to this emerging field.
Guest Editors: Ian A. Dickie, Marc-André Selosse and Maarja Öpik
Cover image courtesy of Ian A. Dickie: Pinus contorta co-invasion with ectomycorrhizal and antagonistic fungi into the iconic grasslands of Aotearoa New Zealand, with Aoraki Mt Cook in the background.