L8/L9: Invasive species readings Flashcards
Drake and Lodge, 2004
Global hot spots of biological invasions: evaluating options for ballast-water management
Biological invasions are a leading cause of species extinctions and biotic homogenization, making it a severe environmental threat and exceedingly costly to society.
Describing existing patterns of invasion and forecasting future invasions are essential for the more effective management of global biodiversity resources.
Yet, invasions are difficult to quantify because organisms at low density are often overlooked.
Accounting for movements of 7000–10 000 species simultaneously (Carlton 1999), ballast water is the principal source of invasive species in coastal freshwater and marine ecosystems.
Per-ship-visit probability of initiating invasion is paramount in reducing the rate of global biotic homogenization.
Chytry et al., 2008
Habitat invasions by alien plants: a quantitative comparison among Mediterranean, subcontinental and oceanic regions of Europe
Although invasions by alien plants are major threats to the biodiversity of natural habitats, individual habitats vary considerably in their susceptibility to invasion.
Leger and Rice, 2003
Invasive California poppies (Eschscholzia californica Cham.) grow larger than native individuals under reduced competition
Invasive plants can be larger and more fecund in their invasive range than in their native range, although it is unknown how often this is a result of a genetically controlled shift in traits, a plastic response to a favourable environment, or a combination thereof.
Paper finds significant increases in size and fecundity in invasive populations at two of three locations when poppies were grown without competition from other plants.
Our results indicate that genetic shifts in traits have occurred in invasive populations, and that the invasive plants are better at maximizing growth and reproduction in open environments.
Orrock et al., 2008
Biological invasions can change ecosystem function, have tremendous economic costs, and impact human health; understanding the forces that cause and maintain biological invasions is thus of immediate importance.
A mechanism by which exotic plants might displace native plants is by increasing the pressure of native consumers on native plants, a form of indirect interaction termed “apparent competition.”
Chytry et al., 2007
Habitat invasions by alien plants: a quantitative comparison among Mediterranean, subcontinental and oceanic regions of Europe
Although invasions by alien plants are major threats to the biodiversity of natural habitats, individual habitats vary considerably in their susceptibility to invasion.
Therefore the risk assessment procedures, which are used increasingly by environmental managers to inform effective planning of invasive plant control, require reliable quantitative information on the extent to which different habitats are susceptible to invasion.
