Invasive species: what everyone needs to know

"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"--

Index: pages 321-329.

1. General Introduction. 1.1. What is a biological invasion? ; 1.2. When did the study of biological invasions begin? ; 1.3. Why are biological invasions important? ; 1.4. What controversies surround invasions and their management? -- 2. Magnitude, geography, and time course of invasions. 2.1. How many introduced species become invasive? ; 2.2. How many biological invasions are there? ; 2.3. Where do most biological invaders come from, and where do they go? ; 2.4. When have invasions occurred and by what means? How have rates of invasions changed? ; 2.5. Why are island ecosystems especially vulnerable? ; 2.6. How are introduced species distributed among habitats, and how do they get around? -- 3. Ecological effects of introduced species

Straightforward impacts. 3.1. How do biological invasions modify habitats? ; 3.2. How do invaders compete with native species? ; 3.3. What are the impacts of introduced predators? ; 3.4. What are the impacts of introduced herbivores? ; 3.5. What roles do introduced parasites and diseases play? ; 3.6. How does hybridization with invaders affect native species? -- 4. Impacts of invasions -- complications and human impacts. 4.1. What is an indirect e…