eco-defense against invasionseco-defense反对入侵.pdfVIP

Open access, freely available online Feature Eco-Defense against Invasions Virginia Gewin nce thought only science fi ction, alien invasions are one of today’s major scientifi c challenges. The “aliens” in question are nonnative, or exotic, species O capable of outcompeting natives and, ultimately, taking over the ecosystems to which they are introduced (Figure 1). Invasive alien species are a worldwide problem, now found in every ecosystem on Earth. Staving off the further advance of invasions—identifi ed by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (http:⁄⁄/en/ index.aspx), a United Nations–backed audit of ecosystem health, as one of the most important drivers of ecosystem change—is a key environmental priority. Complicating matters, not all exotic species are invasive, or likely to cause harm to ecosystems or human health. But when introduced species exploit a specifi c species trait or fi ll a vacant niche in an ecosystem in order to invade, they cross the line from exotic to weed or pest. For example, European cheat grass (Bromus tectorum), accidentally introduced into western United States in contaminated seed, grows in the winter. Perennial grasses native to the west die off in the winter, giving cheatgrass the advantage of spreading healthy seed early in the growing season. Subsequently, Cheatgrass has altered the normal functioning of western ecosystems. Fires, once common in the region only every 60–100 years, now burn every three to four years. Animal introductions can lead to species extinctions if they upset existing predator–prey relationships. When the poisonous brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis) was accidentally introduced to the originally snake-free island of Guam in the Pacifi c Ocean, as a cargo ship stowaway in 1952, it ultimately caused the demise of twelve native bird species. The ecosystem’s unfi lled predatory niche offered the brown tree snake the perfect opportunity to inva