Invasive Species: What Everyone Needs to Know® - Softcover

Simberloff, Daniel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199922039 ISBN 13: 9780199922031

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2013

Synopsis

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, Simberloff will first cover 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. Simberloff's final chapters will 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 will also contain 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.

About this title

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WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW About This Series

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Busy people with diverse interests, ranging from college students to professionals, who wish to inform themselves in a succinct yet authoritative manner about a particular topic.

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An incisive approach to a complex and timely issue, laid out in a straight-forward, question-and-answer format.

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• International Politics
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About the Author

Daniel Simberloff is Professor of Environmental Studies and Director of the Institute for Biological Invasions at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Biological Invasions and senior editor of the Encyclopedia of Biological Invasions (University of California Press, 2011).

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0199922039
• ISBN 13: 9780199922031
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352