‘Caribbean Creep’ Chills Out: Climate Change and Marine Invasive Species

The world’s mediterranean-type climate regions (including areas within the Mediterranean, South Africa, Australia, California, and Chile) have long been of interest to biologists by virtue of their extraordinary biodiversity and the appearance of evolutionary convergence between these disparate regions. Comparisons between mediterranean-type climate regions have provided important insights into questions at the cutting edge of ecological, ecophysiological and evolutionary research. These regions, dominated by evergreen shrubland communities, contain many rare and endemic species. Their mild climate makes them appealing places to live and visit and this has resulted in numerous threats to the species and communities that occupy them. Threats include a wide range of factors such as habitat loss due to development and agriculture, disturbance, invasive species, and climate change. As a result, they continue to attract far more attention than their limited geographic area might suggest. This book provides a concise but comprehensive introduction to mediterranean-type ecosystems. As with other books in the Biology of Habitats Series, the emphasis in this book is on the organisms that dominate these regions although their management, conservation, and restoration are also considered.

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Vegetation ecology with anthropic drivers and consequences

Progress in Physical Geography Earth and Environment ◽

10.1177/0309133321999371 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 030913332199937

Author(s):

George P Malanson ◽

Michelle L Talal ◽

Elizabeth R Pansing ◽

Scott B Franklin

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Invasive Species ◽

Plant Communities ◽

Fire Ecology ◽

Progress Report ◽

Processes Of Change ◽

Community Classification ◽

The Status ◽

Plant Community Classification ◽

Anthropogenic Drivers

Current research on vegetation makes a difference in people’s lives. Plant community classification is a backbone of land management, plant communities are changing in response to anthropogenic drivers, and the processes of change have impacts on ecosystem services. In the following progress report, we summarize the status of classification and recent research on vegetation responses to pollution, especially nitrogen deposition, invasive species, climate change, and land use and direct exploitation. Two areas with human feedbacks are underscored: fire ecology and urban ecology. Prominent questions at the current research frontier are highlighted with attention to new perspectives.

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The widespread collapse of an invasive species: Argentine ants ( Linepithema humile ) in New Zealand

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2011.1014 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 430-433 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Meghan Cooling ◽

Stephen Hartley ◽

Dalice A. Sim ◽

Philip J. Lester

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Invasive Species ◽

New Zealand ◽

Argentine Ant ◽

Environmental Costs ◽

Argentine Ants ◽

Ant Communities ◽

Mean Survival Time ◽

Colony Collapse ◽

Increasing Temperature

Synergies between invasive species and climate change are widely considered to be a major biodiversity threat. However, invasive species are also hypothesized to be susceptible to population collapse, as we demonstrate for a globally important invasive species in New Zealand. We observed Argentine ant populations to have collapsed in 40 per cent of surveyed sites. Populations had a mean survival time of 14.1 years (95% CI = 12.9–15.3 years). Resident ant communities had recovered or partly recovered after their collapse. Our models suggest that climate change will delay colony collapse, as increasing temperature and decreasing rainfall significantly increased their longevity, but only by a few years. Economic and environmental costs of invasive species may be small if populations collapse on their own accord.

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