This book, Diversity and Ecology of Invasive Plants, is a collection of reviewed and relevant research chapters, offering a comprehensive overview of recent developments in the field of invasive species biology. The book comprises chapters authored by various researchers and edited by experts active in the field of conservation of biodiversity. All chapters are complete in itself but united under a common topic. This publication aims at providing a thorough overview of the latest research efforts by international authors on diversity, distribution, and ecological consequences of invasive species and opens new possible research paths for further developments.

This open access book describes the serious threat of invasive species to native ecosystems. Invasive species have caused and will continue to cause enormous ecological and economic damage with ever increasing world trade. This multi-disciplinary book, written by over 100 national experts, presents the latest research on a wide range of natural science and social science fields that explore the ecology, impacts, and practical tools for management of invasive species. It covers species of all taxonomic groups from insects and pathogens, to plants, vertebrates, and aquatic organisms that impact a diversity of habitats in forests, rangelands and grasslands of the United States. It is well-illustrated, provides summaries of the most important invasive species and issues impacting all regions of the country, and includes a comprehensive primary reference list for each topic. This scientific synthesis provides the cultural, economic, scientific and social context for addressing environmental challenges posed by invasive species and will be a valuable resource for scholars, policy makers, natural resource managers and practitioners.

Bringing together ecology and management of invasive plants within natural and agricultural ecosystems, this book bridges the knowledge gap between the processes operating within ecosystems and the practices used to prevent, contain, control and eradicate invasive plant species. The book targets key processes that can be managed, the impact of invasive plants on these ecosystem processes and illustrates how adopting ecologically based principles can influence the ecosystem and lead to effective land management.

Based on a selection of papers presented at the Norway/UN Conference on Alien Species, Trondheim, Norway

Invasion of non-native plant species, which has a significant impact on the earth's ecosystems, has greatly increased in recent years due to expanding trade and transport among different countries. Understanding the ecological principles underlying the invasive process as well as the characteristics of the invasive plants is crucial for making good

"Invasive plants, which are plants that are introduced into a new environment and cause negative effects on the local habitat, pose a serious threat to environmental and ecological conservation. This book contains three chapters that discuss the problem of invasive plants and propose solutions for their management and control. Chapter One concerns the use of invasive plants as raw materials for the environmentally friendly development of paper and packaging products. Chapter Two details the results of a study that suggests that the invasive plant Parthenium hysterophorus can be controlled by the maintenance of effective suppressive plant communities. Chapter Three presents the results of a study concerning the spread of Parthenium hysterophorus within and around Arusha National Park in Tanzania"--

Invasive plant species are becoming common and dominating virtually all environments worldwide. Their impacts on native biota can be variable, but they normally negatively affect the resident species. The interest in invasive species has grown in recent decades and many studies are being conducted on this theme. In this book, we quantitatively demonstrate how the interest in invasive plants has increased since 2000, and which topics have received more attention over time. Moreover, we report a variety of information on plant and animal invasive species inhabiting different ecosystems. A temporal and spatial analysis of the New Zealand Mud Snail is presented, as well as the expansion of the Brazilian rattlesnake distribution. Many studies were carried out on the (magnificent) Fernando de Noronha archipelago in the last decade, and the results are partially described in this volume. Native plants and animals are being threatened by exotic and invasive species in the archipelago. Protected areas nearby urban centers are especially affected by invasive species, and this statement is confirmed herein through a study carried out in Atlantic Forest remnants. Another interesting issue is how exotic and invasive tree species can affect the diversity and structure of epiphyte species. Herein the reader will learn how an invasive species sets up the epiphyte community in a century old oil palm stand. Although invasive species cause serious problems in the new environment, some of them can also be used to mitigate air, water, and soil pollution. Thus, in addition to presenting the ecological aspects and negative effects, this volume also brings some potential uses for invasive species.

This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 2.5 license. This book provides an unprecedented synthesis of the current status of scientific and management knowledge regarding global rangelands and the major challenges that confront them. It has been organized around three major themes. The first summarizes the conceptual advances that have occurred in the rangeland profession. The second addresses the implications of these conceptual advances to management and policy. The third assesses several major challenges confronting global rangelands in the 21st century. This book will compliment applied range management textbooks by describing the conceptual foundation on which the rangeland profession is based. It has been written to be accessible to a broad audience, including ecosystem managers, educators, students and policy makers. The content is founded on the collective experience, knowledge and commitment of 80 authors who have worked in rangelands throughout the world. Their collective contributions indicate that a more comprehensive framework is necessary to address the complex challenges confronting global rangelands. Rangelands represent adaptive social-ecological systems, in which societal values, organizations and capacities are of equal importance to, and interact with, those of ecological processes. A more comprehensive framework for rangeland systems may enable management agencies, and educational, research and policy making organizations to more effectively assess complex problems and develop appropriate solutions.

Invasive alien species are a major threat to biodiversity and ecosystems throughout the world. In India, a country with three of the world's most important 'biodiversity hotspots', the invasion of alien plants means risking a national ecological disaster with major social and economic consequences. Currently there is insufficient information about invasive alien plants; their distribution, rate of spread and adaptability to new environments. This book reveals existing and potential invaders, evaluates the level of risk they pose to native species and suggests steps to manage spread and limit d.

Exotic invasive plant species pose a serious threat to native biodiversity. Invasive plants transmogrify the landscape ecology in a highly complex manner leading to a sort of ecological explosion. Global terrestrials as well as aquatic ecosystems are invaded by various invasive plant species. Invasive species are alien species whose introduction and spread threatens ecosystems, habitats or species with socio-cultural, economic and/or environmental harm, and also poses a risk to human health. The present book aims to provide a critical review on the mechanisms, impact and management of invasive species, particularly in the context of plants. Plant invasion is now increasingly being recognised as a global problem and various continents are adversely affected, although to a differential scale. Invasive plants not only alter plant ecosystem functions, but also result in large economic costs from lost ecosystem services. The quest for ecological mechanisms behind the success of invasive species over native species has drawn the attention of researchers world-wide, particularly in the context of the diversity-stability relationship. The transport, colonisation, establishment and landscape spread are different steps in the success of invasive plants, and each and every step is checked through several ecological attributes. Furthermore, several ecological attributes and hypotheses (enemy release, novel weapon, empty niche, evolution of increased competitive ability etc.) were proposed pertaining to the success of invasive plant species. However, a single theory will not be able to account for the invasion success among all environments, as it may vary spatially and temporally. Therefore, in order to formulate a sustainable management plan for invasive plants, it is necessary to develop a synoptic view of the dynamic processes involved in the invasion process. Moreover, invasive species can act synergistically with other elements of global change, including land-use change, climate change, increased concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide and nitrogen deposition. Henceforth, a unified framework for biological invasions that reconcile and integrate the key features of the most commonly used invasion frame-works into a single conceptual model that can be applied to all human-mediated invasions will be developed.