Biological invasions: Linking the aboveground and belowground consequences

The 9th biennial meeting of the Soil Ecology Society held in Palm Springs, CA in May 2003, addressed the theme of “Invasive species and soil ecology”. This meeting prompted interest in pursuing this special issue of Applied Soil Ecology, which includes papers presented at the meeting and other papers contributed after the meeting. This paper highlights some of the major issues addressed at the meeting and in the subsequent papers published in this special issue, and also provides a conceptual framework for examining interactions between aboveground and belowground invasions.