Invasion Ecology by Lockwood, Hoopes and Marchetti

Published in 2007, this book is the latest introduction book on invasion I found in our library. After reading the classic book by Williamson, I wanted to see how much progress invasion ecologists have made in the past ten years.

I wasn't disappointed. This book offered an updated picture by "providing an overview of the study of biological invasions" (p1). Judging from the organizational framework the authors chose to present the overview (as shown in the chapter names), I guessed correctly that there must be a biogeography researcher on board. It turns out Julie Lockwood herself has been doing research on biotic homogenization and transportation of non-native species.

One thing I particularly like about the book is that the trans-disciplinary nature of bio-invasion research was addressed from the Preface page. "Invasion ecology by its nature is integrative, requiring its practioners to understand (at the least) economics, evolution, population genetics, biogeography and ecology." Another nice surprise was Box 1.1 on page 5, where they mentioned that Elton had embraced the socio-political implication of his work even in his 1958 book (The ecology of invasion by animals and plants). Throughout the book the authors were not shy on talking about the socio-economic aspects of invasion either. Chapter 10 (Impact synthesis) and Chapter 12 (Prediction, risk assessment, and management of species invasions) even focused on the human perspective of the story.

Another thing I like is the list for further reading at the end of each Chapter. Publications of "Further complexities" is a "must-read". Check out "Companion papers" if you are interested in learning more. I found this feature is very useful in tracking down review papers for different subjects.

Last I also enjoyed the authors' writing style. It is clear and concise overall and even better sometimes it gives the reader some vivid images. Here is an example, on page 133, this is what they wrote when talking about the spatial spread of invaders:

"The circles continue to expand outward through time. Slowly but surely encompassing all suitable habitats, just as 'the Blob' would shine its way outward to engulf screaming victims in the classic 1950s horror movie."

The only shortcoming I can think of is some material could have been moved around to make the overall structure clearer. In Disturbance chapter, for instance, the section about invaders as disturbance sources could be incorporated with a later chapter on ecological impacts of invasive species.

In summary I found the book is well written and organized read especially for those interested studies at large spatial scale. I have to return the book for now as somebody else is waiting to read it, but I put my name on the waiting list and look forward to reading it in the future again.

P.S. Here is a link for the note I took when reading the book.