Alien Species and Insect Conservation
This overview of the roles of alien species in insect conservation brings together information, evidence and examples from many parts of the world to illustrate their impacts (often severe, but in many cases poorly understood and unpredictable) as o
- PDF / 5,848,792 Bytes
- 239 Pages / 439.42 x 683.15 pts Page_size
- 31 Downloads / 252 Views
Alien Species and Insect Conservation
Alien Species and Insect Conservation
Tim R. New
Alien Species and Insect Conservation
Tim R. New Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution La Trobe University Melbourne, VIC, Australia
ISBN 978-3-319-38772-7 ISBN 978-3-319-38774-1 DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-38774-1
(eBook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016940514 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland
Preface
Widely regarded as second only to direct loss of natural habitats as a threat to native plants and animals throughout the world, the ecological roles and impacts of socalled alien species (often, ‘exotic species’) are a global concern in conservation. Their diversity and effects continue to increase and ramify throughout all major communities and ecosystems, and in a considerable variety of contexts. Many are related to human activities, and others are more natural or fortuitous as increasingly complex novel interactions occur between alien and native species with no history of previous co-occurrence. The outcome is a world that has been described as increasingly uniform with massive erosion of natural regional peculiarities to produce an environment that has been termed the ‘Homogenocene’ or ‘Anthropocene’, in which the extinction of evermore numerous localised and ecologically specialised life forms seems inevitable as biotic homogenisation progresses and adaptable ecological generalists spread and predominate as consequences of human activity and as environments change. Amongst these, the roles of insects are very diverse – both as aggressors or putative aggressors when they reach new areas, and as the resident (native) victims or beneficiaries of a massive variety of alien insects, plants and other invaders. Both role categories occur in many parts
Data Loading...
