Changing the mix: New rules in regulating herbivore populations

Abstract

Plants, animals, and microorganisms (including pathogens) are moving around the planet and establishing new populations in new geographic distributions. Some of the movement is the result of natural range expansions as environmental conditions change or as community compositions change. For example, climate change may be a factor in the northward range expansion of collared peccaries in North America (Albert et al. 2004). Distributions of other species are intentionally expanded by human activities related to economic interests (e.g., planting Eucalyptus into plantations in North America or Pinus into plantations in Australia for fiber production), recreation (e.g., release of fox into Australia or brown trout into New Zealand), or a variety of other directed actions (e.g., classical biological control efforts [Clausen et al. 1977]). Human activities have also led to the unintentional introduction of plants and animals into new environments. While many of these introductions have not had serious consequences, some of the exotic invasive species have cause serious economic or ecological disturbance. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008.