Invasive Species: Vectors And Management Strategies (Google eBook)

Gregory M. Ruiz, James T. Carlton

Island Press, Dec 1, 2003 - Nature - 518 pages

Recent years have seen a steep rise in invasions of non-native species in virtually all major ecoregions on Earth. Along with this rise has come a realization that a rigorous scientific understanding of why, how, when, and where species are transported is the necessary foundation for managing biological invasions.

Invasive Species presents extensive information and new analyses on mechanisms of species transfer, or vectors, as the latest contribution from the Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP). Contributors assess invasion vectors and vector management in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems for major taxonomic groups in a variety of regions around the world. The book:

• examines invasion causes, routes, and vectors in space and time
• highlights current approaches and challenges to preventing new invasions, both from a geographic and taxonomic point of view
• explores strategies, benefits, and limitations of risk assessment
• offers a synthesis of many facets of vector science and management
• presents recommendations for action

Chapter authors review fungi, plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates, with geographic assessments covering New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and the United States.

Although the full extent and cumulative impact of nonnative species can only be approximated, biological invasions are clearly a potent force of global change, contributing to a wide range of deleterious effects including disease outbreaks, habitat alteration and loss, declines of native species, increased frequency of fires, and shifts in nutrient cycling. Vectors are the delivery mechanisms, resulting in recent increases in rates of new invasions. Invasive Species brings together in a single volume new information from leading scientists around the world on approaches to controlling and managing invasion vectors. This volume is a timely and essential reference for scientists, researchers, policymakers, and anyone concerned with understanding biological invasions and developing effective responses to them.

Contents

• Invasion Pathways of Terrestrial PlantInhabiting Fungi: 31
• Exotic Insects and Their Pathways for Invasion: 44
• Invasion Pathways for Terrestrial Vertebrates: 68
• Pathways of Introduction of Nonindigenous Land and Freshwater: 93
• In Ships or on Ships? Mechanisms of Transfer and Invasion: 152
• Pathways of Biological Invasions of Marine Plants: 183
• Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Transoceanic Shipping Vectors: 227
• INVASION MANAGEMENT AND POLICY: 249
• Invasive Species Management in New Zealand: 270
• Vectors and Pathways of Biological Invasions in South Africa: 292
• Mitigating Introduction of Invasive Plant Pests in: 350
• Environmental Diplomacy and the Global Movement of Invasive: 362
• Biosecurity and the Role of Risk Assessment: 382
• Generic Nonindigenous Aquatic Organisms Risk Analysis: 415
• PathwaysBased Risk Assessment of Exotic Species Invasions: 439
• CONCLUSION: 459
• Contributing Authors: 505

About the author

Gregory M. Ruiz is an ecologist and director of the Marine Invasion Research Laboratory at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Maryland.

James T. Carlton is professor of marine sciences and director of the Maritime Studies Program of Williams College. He is based in Mystic, Connecticut.

 

Bibliographic information

• Title: Invasive Species: Vectors And Management Strategies
• Editors: Gregory M. Ruiz, James T. Carlton
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Island Press, 2003
• ISBN: 1610911539, 9781610911535
• Length: 518 pages
• Subjects: Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection; Nature / General; Science / Life Sciences / Biology; Science / Life Sciences / Ecology; Science / Life Sciences / Zoology / General