Life Out of Bounds:
Bioinvasion in a Borderless World
by Chris Bright. W.W. Norton. 1998. 288 pp. $13
ISBN: 393318141
What happens when all the natural boundaries that
separated species around the world for millions of years are removed,
willy-nilly,
in the blink of an evolutionary eye? Out of my window in northern
California I see "open space" with Australian eucalyptus,
South American pampas grass, and French broom, all living within
a matrix of wild oats from Europe. On the asphalt below, the suffering
nightcrawlers, crushed brown snails, and potential parasites in
the fresh dog doo are all descended from recent Old World immigrants,
as am I.
Clearly things have gotten a bit mixed up, and it's not
all pretty. The question is, does this homogenization of the
world's biota
matter, and if so what can be done about it? Life Out of Bounds
is one of
best modern surveys on bioinvasion. Very readable, and reasonably
priced, this book is for any earthling wanting a fuller understanding
of life in the Homogocene.
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