Avian Invasions: The Ecology and Evolution of Exotic Birds

Abstract

As people have spread around the world, they have taken with them a broad range of other species to satisfy a variety of human needs. Some of these species went on to establish wild populations well outside their native ranges. These biological invaders are a major component of current global change, and often represent threats to the maintenance of global biodiversity, human health, and the success of human economic enterprises. The continuing globalization of our society ensures that the need to understand the process of biological invasion will only increase in the future. There is also a growing recognition that the study of biological invaders provides significant insight into basic questions in ecology and evolution. Exotic birds provide a particularly good opportunity to study the causes and consequences of biological invasions. By combining good historical records of bird introductions with the detailed information available on many other aspects of avian biology, this book advances understanding of the invasion process while also exploring avian conservation biology, and basic principles of ecology and evolution. Chapters cover causes of non-randomness in which species get transported and released into novel environments, the stochastic (relating to numbers released) and deterministic (relating to species and location) effects that influence establishment success, patterns and processes in range expansion, and the ecology, genetics, and evolution of exotic birds in their new environment.