Professor Erik Arndt from the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences recently delivered two very interesting public lectures that were well attended by students and staff from the Department of Biology, as well as students from other departments and the general public.

In the first lecture, Patterns of biological invasions, Prof. Arndt explained the sequence of events in biological invasions, starting from the initial introduction, to establishment and range expansion, to an ecological equilibrium with the native ecosystem. This is often accompanied by the extinction of native species, especially on islands. A wide range of examples, from the terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments was discussed, including some of Prof. Arndt’s own work on the European mainland.

In the second lecture, Interaction between ants and vegetation, Prof. Arndt first gave a brief introduction on the structure and systematics of ants. He described their role as ecosystem engineers or keystone species in meadow, tropical rain forest, temperate deciduous forest and Mediterranean-type ecosystems. He then went on to highlight the importance of ants as distributors of seeds in the Mediterranean-climate regions of South Africa and Australia.

Prof. Arndt also described his own work on the subject carried out in Greece, where his research showed that up to 80% of the plant species in the area studied may benefit from ants in one way or another.