Daniel Simberloff

An analysis of the ecological and political impacts of invasive species, written by a leading invasion biologist

What Everyone Needs to Know

Invasive Species

Roy van Driesche

Bernd Blossey

Charlotte Causton

Mark Hoddle

Christian O. Marks

Kevin M. Heinz

David L. Wagner

Keith D. Warner

Invasive species have a critical and growing effect upon natural areas. They can modify, degrade, or destroy wildland ecosystem structure and function, and reduce native biodiversity. Landscape-level solutions are needed to address these problems. Conservation biologists seek to limit such damage and restore ecosystems using a variety of approaches. One such approach is biological control: the deliberate importation and establishment of specialized natural enemies, which can address invasive species problems and which should be considered as a possible component of restoration. Biological control can be an effective tool against many invasive insects and plants but it has rarely been successfully employed against other groups. Safety is of paramount concern and requires that the natural enemies used be specialized and that targeted pests be drivers of ecological degradation. While modern approaches allow species to be selected with a high level of security, some risks do remain. However, as in all species introductions, these should be viewed in the context of the risk of failing to reduce the impact of the invasive species. This unique book identifies the balance among these factors to show how biological control can be integrated into ecosystem restoration as practiced by conservation biologists. Jointly developed by conservation biologists and biological control scientists, it contains chapters on matching tools to management goals; tools in action; measuring and evaluating ecological outcomes of biological control introductions; managing conflict over biological control; and includes case studies as well as an ethical framework for integrating biological control and conservation practice. Integrating Biological Control into Conservation Practice is suitable for graduate courses in invasive species management and biological control, as well as for research scientists in government and non-profit conservation organizations.

Integrating Biological Control into Conservation Practice

Donald C. Schmitz

Tom C. Brown

Invasive nonindigenous species -- plants and animals that have been introduced to an ecosystem from someplace else -- are wreaking havoc around the globe. Because they did not co-evolve with species already in the ecosystem, they can profoundly disturb species interactions and ecosystem function.The state of Florida has one of the most severe exotic species problems in the country; as much as a quarter of many taxa in Florida are nonnative, and millions of acres of land and water are dominated by nonindigenous species. Strangers in Paradise provides an in-depth examination of the Florida experience and of the ongoing efforts to eradicate or manage introduced species. Chapters consider: natural disturbance and the spread of nonindigenous species case studies of insects, freshwater invertebrates, fishes, amphibians and reptiles, birds, marine invertebrates and algae, and mammals methods of managing nonindigenous species including ecological restoration, eradication, "maintenance control," and biological control management on public lands the regulatory framework including the role of the federal government as well as state authorities and responsibilities Strangers in Paradise is the first comprehensive volume to address a large, diverse region and the full range of nonindigenous species, the problems they cause, and the methods and impediments to dealing with them. Throughout, contributors emphasize solutions and relate the situation in Florida to problems faced by other states, making the book an important guide for anyone involved with control and management of invasive species.

Impact And Management Of Nonindigenous Species In Florida

Strangers in Paradise

F. Stuart Chapin III

Ricardo Rozzi

Francisca Massardo

Aníbal Pauchard

Martin A. Nuñez

Irene J. Klaver

Michael C. Gavin

Roy H. May Jr.

To assess the social processes of globalization that are changing the way in which we co-inhabit the world today, this book invites the reader to essay the diversity of worldviews, with the diversity of ways to sustainably co-inhabit the planet. With a biocultural perspective that highlights planetary ecological and cultural heterogeneity, this book examines three interrelated themes: (1) biocultural homogenization, a global, but little perceived, driver of biological and cultural diversity loss that frequently entail social and environmental injustices; (2) biocultural ethics that considers –ontologically and axiologically– the complex interrelationships between habits, habitats, and co-inhabitants that shape their identity and well-being; (3) biocultural conservation that seeks social and ecological well-being through the conservation of biological and cultural diversity and their interrelationships.

From Biocultural Homogenization to Biocultural Conservation

Daniel Simberloff

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