Plant invasions: ecological threats and management solutions by L. Child, J. H. Brock, G. Brundu, K. Prach, P. Pyšek, P. M. Wade, M. Williamson

2004·2 MB·English

by  Review By: Marcel Rejmánek

MADRONO
400 [Vol. 51
www.esa.org/vegweb/docFiles/NVC_Guidelines_v40. 30 chapters were written by 64 authors from 22
pdf), this volume should be available, at least, in countries and 5 continents. The volume is divided
all professional libraries. into six sections: 1) IVIechanism and impact (five
—Marcel Rejmanek, Section of Evolution and Ecol- chapters), 2) Alien floras (six chapters), 3) Species
ogy, University of California, Davis, CA 95616. ecology: congeners (six chapters), 4) Case studies
[email protected]. (five chapters), 5) Control (four chapters), and 6)
Management (four chapters).
Initially, we may be somewhat disappointed as
Literature Cited only one contribution is from the USA (J. H. Brock:
Keil, D. J. 1997. A manual of California vegetation [re- Elaeagnus angustifolia seed banks from invaded ri-
view]. Systematic Botany 22:410-411. parian habitats in northeastern Arizona). Neverthe-
Peinado, M., J. L. Aguirre, and M. de la Cruz. 1998. less, as has been already stressed many times, plant
A phytosociological survey of the boreal forests invasions are a global problem, and we can learn a
(Vaccinio-Piceetea) in North America. PlantEcology lot from what is going on in Argentina, Australia,
PeinaP1dh3yo7t,:o1sM5o.1c,-i2olJ0.o2g.Li.calA,guibriroecl,imaantidcJ.anDdelgbiaodgielolgor.aph1i9c9a7l. Ebuutrioopnes, ionr tNheiswvZoelaulmaend.arMeoorfeogveenre,rasleviemrpaolrctoanntcrei,-
classification ofwoody climax communities ofwest- addressing very basic questions of invasion biolo-
ern North America. Journal ofVegetation Science 8: gy. Just a few examples: (1) Understanding patterns
505-528. ofplant invasions at different spatial scales (10 km^
Rejmanek, M. 1997. Vegetation classification: shortcuts to >1,000,000 km^) (M. Rouget and D. M. Rich-
lead nowhere. Global Ecology and Biogeography ardson): environmental factors best explained dis-
Letters 6:164-165. tribution at broad scales; whereas, propagule pres-
Spribille,T. 1999. ForestvegetationinthenorthernSalish sure explained most of the variation at finer (local)
Mountains of northwestern Montana (U.S.A.). Phy-
toccoenologia 29:503-577. scales. (2) The introduction of American plant spe-
Spribille, T. 2000. Clarification regarding the paper "For- cies into Europe (J. Forman): based on a 6000-spe-
est vegetation in the northern Salish Mountains of cies database and the strong relationship between
northwestern Montana (U.S.A.)". Phytocoenologia weediness in America and likelihood ofbeing non-
30:143-144. benign in Europe, a warning list was compiled to
Spribille, T. and A. Ceska. 2002. North American boreal assist European policy makers in preventing future
and western temperate forest vegetation [review]. invasions. Not surprisingly, several American spe-
Journal of Vegetation Science 13:749-750. cies ofAmaranthus, Bidens, Conyza, and Solanum
Spribille, T, H. G. Stroh, and F J. Triepke. 2001. Are are on this list; however, Xanthium strumarium that
hsaobciitaattiotnysp?esJocuormnpaaltiobfleVweigtehtaftlioornistSiccailelnycdeefi1n2e:d79a1s-- is listed here as well, was introduced to Europe not
796. from America but from its native range in EastAsia
Weber, H. E., J. Moravec, and J.-P. Theurillat. 2000. in the Bronze Age. (3) Invasion of the Portuguese
Internationalcodeofphytosociological nomenclature, dune ecosystems by Acacia longifolia (H. Mar-
3rd ed. Journal of Vegetation Science 11:739-768. chante, E. Marchante, and H. Freitas): this Austra-
Zedler, p. H. 1997. A manual of California vegetation lian species was introduced for dune stabilization;
[review]. Madrono 44:214-219. plots invaded by this species have significantly
lower species richness than uninvaded patches of
native vegetation. AsA. longifolia is also a difficult
invader in coastal areas of South Africa, we should
Plant invasions: ecological threats and manage- watch this species in California. (4) Alien flora of
ment solutions. Edited by L. Child, J. H. Brock, G. the Czech Republic (P Pysek, J. Sadlo, and B.
Brundu, K. Prach, P. Pysek, P. M. Wade, and M. Mandak): a catalogue of 1378 alien plant taxa (Py-
Williamson. 2003. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, the sek et al. 2002), which currently serves as one of
Netherlands, xii + 457 pp., 106 figures, 84 tables. the best available models for other countries, is re-
Paperback, Euro 108.00. ISBN 90-5782-135-4. analyzed here and compared with relevant infor-
California is definitely one of the states where mation from the British Isles. (5) Japanese knot-
interest in invasive plant species has a long tradi- weed (Fallopia spp.) at home and abroad (J. Bailey,
tion (Parish 1920; Robbins 1940; Baker 1962; C. H. Pashley, and C. Ferris): hybridization and
Frenkel 1970; Randall et al. 1998), and there are backcrossing is an important phenomenon, offering
many reasons for that (Bossard et al. 2000). There- the possibility ofthe production ofpopulations bet-
fore, any interesting publication on plant invasions ter suited for new environments. (6) Invasiveness
should be a welcome contribution to our institu- of 15 Oenothera congeners in Europe related to
tional and, as far as we can afford, our private li- seed characteristics (S. Mihulka, P. Pysek, and J.
braries. The book underreview is one ofthem. This Martinkova): germination characteristics appear to
volume presents key contributions from the 6"^ In- be more important than other attributes; taxa that
ternational Conferences on the Ecology and Man- tend to germinate easily in the light are the best
agement of Alien Plant Invasions (EMAPi) held in invaders. (7) Biological control of invasive weeds
Loughborough, U.K., in September 2001. In total. in the UK (R. H. Shaw): despite over 1000 releases
2004] BOOK REVIEW 401
ofweed biological control agents around the world, Phyllis M. Faber. 2003. Revised edition. California
the UK and Western Europe have never undertaken natural history guides v. 68. University of Califor-
a full biological control program against a weed nia Press, Berkeley, CA. 247 pp. $39.95 cloth,
target; currently the top potential biocontrol targets $16.95 paperback. ISBN 0-520-23637-8.
ziincalnuaduem,FalIlmoppaitaiejnaspongliacnad,ulHifeerraac.leRuhmodmoadnetnedgraozn- IOnrtnrdoudfufc,tiaonnd rteoviCsaeldifboyrnPihayllpilsanMt. lFiafeb.er,ByandRoTboedrdt
ponticum, Hydrocotyle ranunculoides, Myriophyl-
Keeler-Wolf. 2003. Revised edition. CaliforniaNat-
lum aquaticum, and Buddleja davidii.
EMMAyPiimvporleusmseiosnarisetbheatcosmtiudnigesmorerpeorstoepdhiisntirceacteend,t puPrraaeplsesr,HbiaBscetkro.kreyIleSGyuB,iNdCe0As-.5v2.3046-192.3p7Up0n.4i-v$8e3.r9s.i9t5ycolfotCha,li$f1o6r.n9i5a
and the overall quality is increasing. Despite this
progress, one chronic weakness of plant invasion Pests of the native California conifers. By David
biology still remains: a lack of rigorous evidence L. Wood, Thomas W. Koerber, Robert F. Scharf,
for assumed harmful impacts of invasive taxa. The and Andrew J. Storer. 2003. California Natural His-
phrase "ecological threats" is used in the title of tory Guides v. 70. University of California Press,
this volume, but only a few contributions touch on Berkeley, CA. 233 pp. $48.00 cloth, $19.95 paper-
this topic. Even if mostly demagogic and based on back. ISBN 0-520-23329-8.
half-truths, some critical comments made recently Dragonflies and damselflies ofCalifornia. By Tim
by Theodoropoulos (2003) should be taken seri- Manolis. 2003. California Natural History Guides
ously. Clearly, a more balanced view is what we V. 72. University ofCalifornia Press, Berkeley, CA.
need (Sax and Gaines 2003). 201 pp. $39.95 cloth, $16.95 paperback. ISBN 0-
— 520-23567-3.
Marcel Rejmanek. Section of Evolution and Ecol-
ogy, University ofCalifornia, Davis, CA 95616. As part of a new publishing initiative, the Uni-
versity ofCalifornia Press has undertaken an effort
Literature Cited
to update the California Natural History Guides se-
Baker, H. G. 1962. Weeds: nativeandintroduced. Journal ries. Five recently released volumes include three
ofCalifornia Horticultural society 23:97-104. that are revisions of previously published guides
BossARD, C. C, J. M. Randall, and M. C. Hoshovsky (Introduction to shore wildflowers of California,
U(endisv.e).rs2i0t0y0.ofICnaalsiifvoernpilaanPtrsesosf,CBaelrifkoerlneiya,'sCAwi.ldlands. Oregon, and Washington; Introduction to Califor-
Frenkel, R. E. 1970. Ruderal vegetation along some Cal- nia mountain wildflowers, Introduction to Califor-
ifornia roadsides. University of California Publica- nia plant life), and two new guides (Pests of the
tions in Geography, Volume 20. University of Cali- native California conifers; Dragonflies and dam-
fornia Press, Berkeley, CA. selflies of California). First launched 45 years ago
Parish, S. B. 1920. The immigrant plants ofsouthernCal- in the midst of changing population demographics
ifornia. Bulletin of Southern California Academy of that had resulted in an influx ofresidents unfamiliar
Science 19:3-30. with the flora and fauna of their new surroundings,
Pysek, p., J. Sadlo, and B. Mandak. 2002. Catalogue of the objective ofthe original California Natural His-
alien plants of the Czech Republic. Preslia 74:97-
tory Guide Series was to "foster an understanding
186.
Randall, J. M., M. Rejmanek, and J. C. Hunter. 1998. and enthusiasm, among a broad range of readers,
Characteristics of the exotic flora of California. Fre- of the flora, fauna, and natural features of Califor-
montiWa 26(4): 3-12. nia and of the ecological interrelationships of spe-
Robbins, W. 1940. Alien plants growing without cul- cies, communities and habitats." California contin-
tivation in California. University of California Agri- ues to attract newcomers in large numbers and the
cultural Experiment Station Bulletin 637:1-128. need for accessible natural history information re-
Sax, D. F. andS. D. Gaines. 2003. Speciesdiversity: from mainsjust as, or even more, important and relevant
global decreases to local increases. Trends inEcology
today.
and Evolution 18:561-566.
Theoodforaoppsoeuuldooss,cieDn.ceI.. 2A0v0v3a.rIBnovoakssi,onBlbyitohleo,gyC:Ac.ritique CalBioftorhnitah,eOrIentgroond,ucatnidonWatsohisnhgotroen,wailnddfltoheweIrnstroo-f
duction to California mountain wildflowers have
been updated with new information, and revised
scientific names in accordance with The Jepson
Introduction to shore wildflowers of California, manual: higherplants ofCalifornia. Only a portion
Oregon, and Washington. By Philip A. Munz, and of the rich flora of these two regions can be rep-
edited by Dianne Lake and Phyllis M. Faber. 2003. resented, but an attempt was made to include the
Revised edition. California natural history guides v. most common and widespread species. Among the
67. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. featured species are several exotics, which have be-
234 pp. $39.95 cloth, $16.95 paperback. ISBN 0- come a larger part of our flora since the first edi-
520-23639-4. tions were published. While many of the original
Introduction to California mountain wildflowers. line drawings have been retained, both books con-
By Philip A. Munz, and edited by Dianne Lake and tain an abundance ofnew high quality photographs.