Plant invasions

This volume continues the tradition of publishing key presentations from a series ofbiennial International Conferences on the Ecology and Management of Alien PlantInvasions (EMAPi) beginning in 1992 (see de Waal et al. 1994, Pyšek et al. 1995, Brock et al. 1997, Starfinger et al. 1998, Brundu et al. 2001, Child et al. 2003). Thefirst conference, held in Loughborough, UK in 1992 brought together the latestresearch and thinking on alien plant management within Europe. Since then, theconference has widened its scope having been hosted in Kostelec nad ČernýmiLesy, Czech Republic (1993); Tempe, Arizona, USA (1995); Berlin, Germany(1997); La Maddalena, Sardinia, Italy (1999); Loughborough, UK (2001); FortLauderdale, Florida, USA (2003) and most recently, in Katowice, Poland (2005). The next conference is planned for Perth, Australia in 2007. The number of partic-ipating countries and organisations has increased steadily over the years with 150delegates from over 30 countries and five continents represented at the Katowiceconference. This is an indication of the world-wide importance of plant invasionsand the need for a global network to exchange research outcomes, ideas and bestmanagement practices of invasive plants.