Alien Species And Insect Conservation
by Tim R. New /
2016 / English / PDF
5.6 MB Download
This overview of the roles of alien species in insect
conservation brings together information, evidence and examples
from many parts of the world to illustrate their impacts (often
severe, but in many cases poorly understood and unpredictable) as
one of the primary drivers of species declines, ecological
changes and biotic homogenisation. Both accidental and deliberate
movements of species are involved, with alien invasive plants and
insects the major groups of concern for their influences on
native insects and their environments. Risk assessments,
stimulated largely through fears of non-target impacts of
classical biological control agents introduced for pest
management, have provided valuable lessons for wider conservation
biology. They emphasise the needs for effective biosecurity, risk
avoidance and minimisation, and evaluation and management of
alien invasive species as both major components of many insect
species conservation programmes and harbingers of change in
invaded communities. The spread of highly adaptable ecological
generalist invasive species, which are commonly difficult to
detect or monitor, can be linked to declines and losses of
numerous localised ecologically specialised insects and
disruptions to intricate ecological interactions and functions,
and create novel interactions with far-reaching consequences for
the receiving environments. Understanding invasion processes and
predicting impacts of alien species on susceptible native insects
is an important theme in practical insect conservation.
This overview of the roles of alien species in insect
conservation brings together information, evidence and examples
from many parts of the world to illustrate their impacts (often
severe, but in many cases poorly understood and unpredictable) as
one of the primary drivers of species declines, ecological
changes and biotic homogenisation. Both accidental and deliberate
movements of species are involved, with alien invasive plants and
insects the major groups of concern for their influences on
native insects and their environments. Risk assessments,
stimulated largely through fears of non-target impacts of
classical biological control agents introduced for pest
management, have provided valuable lessons for wider conservation
biology. They emphasise the needs for effective biosecurity, risk
avoidance and minimisation, and evaluation and management of
alien invasive species as both major components of many insect
species conservation programmes and harbingers of change in
invaded communities. The spread of highly adaptable ecological
generalist invasive species, which are commonly difficult to
detect or monitor, can be linked to declines and losses of
numerous localised ecologically specialised insects and
disruptions to intricate ecological interactions and functions,
and create novel interactions with far-reaching consequences for
the receiving environments. Understanding invasion processes and
predicting impacts of alien species on susceptible native insects
is an important theme in practical insect conservation.
