Book Review: Invasion Dynamics by Cang Hui and David M. Richardson

摘要

Invasion biology has grown considerably as a discipline within the past few decades, but it has arguably lacked the firm theoretical foundations by which other subfields are supported. In this book, Hui and Richardson attempt to fix invasion biology on a more rigorous, theoretical footing. The authors focus the book specifically on the spread and impact dynamics of invasive species, thus leaving work on introduction pathways and other aspects concerning the beginning of the invasion process to other authors. This is not a negative, as it allows the book to go into more depth and detail on how the dynamics of the latter stages of invasions can be described mathematically. Invasion Dynamics starts with a useful, informative and concise introduction to the field of invasion biology, covering both its history and key themes (Chapter 1, ‘Setting the scene’). The book is then divided into three parts. Part I is concerned with the dynamics of invasions: Chapter 2 covers the dynamics of spread; Chapter 3 describes modelling spatial dynamics; Chapter 4 covers dispersal and range expansion; and Chapter 5 is concerned with non-equilibrium dynamics. In part II, the book turns to impacts of invasive species: Chapter 6 discusses the role of biotic interactions; in part III, Hui and Richardson present a synthesis: in Chapter 10, complex adaptive networks are put forward as an approach to uniting the concepts of invasiveness and invasibility; and finally Chapter 11 explores how we can manage biological invasions in the Anthropocene.Chapter 7 covers regime shifts; Chapter 8 is concerned with community assembly and succession; and Chapter 9 discusses monitoring and management of invasions. Finally,