Avian Invasions The Ecology and Evolution of Exotic Birds

by Blackburn, Tim M.; Lockwood, Julie L.; Cassey, Phillip

• ISBN13: 9780199232550
• ISBN10: 0199232555
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-10-04
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

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 have subsequently established wild populations well outside their native ranges. These biological invaders are 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 growing recognition that the study of biological invaders provides significant insight into basic questions in ecology and evolution.

Author Biography

Tim Blackburn is Head of the Institute of Zoology, the research division of the Zoological Society of London. He is a Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford and an Honorary Professor at the University of Birmingham. His research primary research interests concern invasion biology, macroecology, and extinction. Julie Lockwood is an Associate Professor at Rutgers University. Her interests are in the ecology and evolution of biological invaders, and the conservation of threatened birds.
Phillip Cassey is a research fellow in Systems Ecology at the University of Birmingham. He is primarily interested in the application of realistic statistical models for understanding ecological processes; particularly of extinction and invasion among birds.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Study of Exotic Birds	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
A Brief History of Exotic Birds	p. 3
The Invasion Pathway	p. 10
Analysing the Invasion Process	p. 16
Précis	p. 21
Transport and Introduction	p. 27
Introduction	p. 27
Patterns in the Transport and Introduction of Birds	p. 30
Correlates of Transport and Introduction Separately	p. 42
What Do We Learn about the Early Stages of Invasion from Studying Introduced Birds?	p. 45
Conclusions	p. 47
The Role of Contingency in Establishment Success	p. 51
Introduction	p. 51
Propagule Pressure and Establishment Success	p. 57
Other Associations of Propagule Pressure	p. 67
Conclusions	p. 74
The Role of Species Traits in Establishment Success	p. 77
Introduction	p. 77
The 'All-or-None' Pattern: Does it Really Exist?	p. 79
Intrinsic Characteristics as Determinants of Establishment Success	p. 82
Conclusions	p. 103
The Role of Location in Establishment Success	p. 107
Introduction	p. 107
Environmental Matching	p. 108
Human Commensalisms	p. 110
Biotic Interactions	p. 112
Conclusions	p. 128
Geographic Range Expansion of Exotic Birds	p. 131
Introduction	p. 131
Patterns of Spread	p. 132
Models of Spread	p. 146
Conclusions	p. 156
The Ecology of Exotic Birds in Novel Locations	p. 161
Introduction	p. 161
Exotic Bird Species Richness	p. 163
Changes in Diversity Patterns across Space after Invasion	p. 168
Large-scale Patterns in the Distribution and Abundance of Exotic Birds	p. 173
Impacts of Exotic Birds on Native Species and Communities	p. 176
Conclusions	p. 184
The Genetics of Exotic Bird Introductions	p. 187
Introduction	p. 187
Population Genetics in the Context of Exotic Bird Introductions	p. 188
Studies of Genetic Variation between Exotic Bird Populations	p. 199
The Role of Genetic Variation in Establishment Success and Range Expansion	p. 204
Introgressive Hybridization of Exotic Birds with Natives	p. 211
Conclusions	p. 213
The Evolution of Exotic Birds	p. 215
Introduction	p. 215
Evolution in Response to Climatic Shifts	p. 217
Evolution in Response to Novel Interspecific Associations	p. 229
Conclusions	p. 241
Lessons from Exotic Birds	p. 243
Introduction	p. 243
'Ockham's Razor': All Else being Equal, the Simplest Solution is the Best	p. 244
False Dichotomies	p. 253
'Somewhere, Something Incredible is Waiting to be Known' (Carl Sagan)	p. 254
Conclusions	p. 257
Bibliography	p. 259
Index	p. 297
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