We Have Been Facilitating Invasives for Thousands of Years!

A new report has ear-marked invasive species of animals, fungi and plants as being major threats to biodiversity (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/15/increase-in-invasive-species-poses-dramatic-threat-to-biodiversity-report-aoe). This is hardly new, as species transported accidentally (in goods or via transport systems) or deliberately (for agricultural, gardening, hunting, disposal of unwanted pets, companion animal, decorative or religious purposes) by humans, have wrecked havoc in many (especially island) locations. Many countries have lots of alien species but a rough calculation, suggests that 'only' 15% of such introductions cause serious problems. The new focus of the concerns, however, is the clear evidence of the impact alien introductions on local ecological relationships between organisms that have often developed over millenia. So, the aliens can actually destroy local balances between species that have formerly worked well producing diversity. It is suggested that we need to get much better at recognising the impact of problematic aliens on communities. We, of course, also need to improve our ability to control (or, at least. limit) introductions. In our post-Covid-19 world, it should also be self-evident that viruses and bacteria can also be highly problematic, when they are transported to new locations!