Invasion Biology and Ecological Theory

'This book represents a novel and exciting approach to testing some fundamental ecological ideas such as the niche concept, competition, disturbance, and life history strategy. It does so using invasive alien species, with Australia as both the invaded environment, as well as the source of the invasives. The approach taken is to propose a series of ecological hypotheses and test these against invader case studies ranging from the failed (finches) to the downright spectacular (water buffalo in Northern Australia). A series of specialist authors tackles each case study, before the editors, Prins and Gordon, conclude with a synthesis chapter that reviews the evidence for and against each hypothesis, drawing on each author's findings in a structured way. The principal intent of this book is to inform the science of ecology, but it is rich in valuable insights to those grappling with the management of this great threat to global biodiversity.' Mark Lonsdale, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra

'This book is both a reasoned call to action and a healthy antidote to hubris. Prins and Gordon assembled a team of authors to examine the history of biological invasions in Australia and undertake a bold test of what we think we know about invasion biology. They distilled that body of theory into eleven hypotheses about invasions in general, and each author tested the hypotheses independently using different historical and recent examples. Have a stiff drink ready for when you finish this book because it will shake your confidence in the idea that conservationists can or even should try to make predictions based on ecological theory. This is not as nihilistic a conclusion as might be assumed though because they also found the fate of invasive biota likely does not seem to simply be determined by chance either.' Conservation Biology

Herbert H. T. Prins is Professor of Resource Ecology at Wageningen University. He was twice visiting professor with CSIRO and a Foundation Fellow of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in environments ranging from savannas and rainforests, to mountains and the high arctic. Iain J. Gordon is Chief Executive and Director of the James Hutton Institute. He has an international reputation for scientific leadership and research excellence in interdisciplinary approaches to understanding socio-ecological system dynamics. He worked for CSIRO for seven years, managing major research portfolios on land management to protect the Great Barrier Reef and conserving Australia's biodiversity.

List of contributors; Foreword Charles J. Krebs; 1. Testing hypotheses about biological invasions and Charles Darwin's two-creators rumination Herbert H. T. Prins and Iain J. Gordon; Part I. Ancient Invaders: 2. Australia's Acacia: unrecognized convergent evolution Joseph T. Miller and Martin Burd; 3. The mixed success of Mimosoideae clades invading into Australia Kyle W. Tomlinson; 4. Perspectives from parrots on biological invasions Leo Joseph; 5. Invasion ecology of honeyeaters Janette A. Norman and Leslie Christidis; 6. The invasion of terrestrial fauna into marine habitat: birds in mangroves David Luther; 7. Biological invasions of Sirenia in relation to ecosystem theory Hans H. de Iongh and Daryl P. Domning; 8. Flying-foxes and drifting continents David A. Westcott and Adam McKeown; 9. Invasion ecology of Australasian marsupials Christopher R. Dickman; 10. Murine rodents - late but highly successful invaders Ken Aplin and Fred Ford; 11. Drift of a continent - broken connections Carol Ann Stannard; 12. The development of a climate - an arid continent with wet fringes Sandra McLaren, Malcolm W. Wallace, Stephen J. Gallagher, Barbara E. Wagstaff and Anne-Marie P. Tosolini; Part II. Modern Invaders: 13. Invasion of woody shrubs and trees Kris French, Ben Gooden and Tanya Mason; 14. Modern tree colonisers from Australia into the rest of the world Trevor H. Booth; 15. Failed introductions - finches from outside Australia Jan Komdeur and Martijn Hammers; 16. The skylark Judit K. Szabo; 17. Why Northern Hemisphere waders did not colonise the south Ken Kraaijeveld; 18. Weak migratory interchange by birds between Australia and Asia David Roshier and Leo Joseph; 19. Introducing a new top predator, the dingo Christopher N. Johnson and Mike Letnic; 20. The European rabbit - Australia's worst mammalian invader Steven R. McLeod and Glen Saunders; 21. The rise and fall of the Asian water buffalo in the monsoonal tropics of Northern Australia Patricia A. Werner; 22. A critique of community ecology and a salute to natural history Herbert H. T. Prins and Iain J. Gordon; Index.