Simberloff, Daniel.
Oxford : Oxford University Press, [2013];©2013
Added to CLICnet on 04/21/2015
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Part of the series What everyone needs to know;What everyone needs to know.
Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-320) and index.
- General introduction — Magnitude, geography, and time course of invasions — Ecological effects of introduced species: Straight forward impacts — Impacts of invasions: Complications and impacts on humans — Evolution of introduced and native species — How and why do invasions occur? — Can we predict species invasions? — How are species introductions regulated? — Detection and eradication of introduced species — Maintenance management of invasions — Controversies surrounding biological invasions — Prospect: The homogeocene?
- Of the 7,000 estimated non-native species present in North America, approximately 1,000 are invasive. Clearly, invasive species are in the minority, but their small numbers don’t keep them from causing billions of dollars in economic and ecological harm each year. Policymakers and ecologists continue to try to figure out which species might be harmful, which invasive species are doing the most damage, and which of these might respond best to eradication efforts. Invasive species reports and case studies are prevalent in political, environmental, and scientific news cycles, and a significant portion of the public is concerned about the issue. In this book, the author first covers basic topics such as how non-native species are introduced, which areas have incurred the most biological invasions, and how the rates of biological invasions have shifted in recent years. He then moves on to the direct and indirect impacts of the impacts of invasive species on various ecosystems, such as habitat and resource competition, how invasive species transmit pathogens, and how introduced plants and animals can modify a habitat to favor other non-native species. The final chapters discuss the evolution of invasive species, the policies we currently have in place to manage them, and future prospects for controlling their spread. The book also contains a section dedicated to the more controversial topics surrounding invasive species: invasive natives, useful non-native species, animal rights versus species rights, and non-native species’ impacts on the biodiversity of an ecosystem.
Subjects:
- Introduced organisms.
- Biological invasions.
- Evolution (Biology)
- Plants — Evolution.
- Conservation biology.
Requested by Beckman, B