Abstract: Using the unusually well-documented butterfly fauna of Davis, Yolo County, Califor- nia, it is shown that the mainly native species commonly observed in gardens breed mostly or entirely on alien plants, especially naturalized weeds. Over 40% of the fauna has no known native hosts in the urban-suburban environment. Were certain alien weeds to be eradicated or their abundance greatly reduced, the urban-suburban butterfly fauna would disappear. This might be regarded as an unfortunate, and perhaps intoler- able, side-effect of such programs.

Abstract: . I examined a data set of 77 protected areas in the USA (including national and state parks) to determine which of the following variables most strongly influence alien plant species richness: park area, climate (temperature and precipitation), native species richness, visitation rate, local human population size, total road length, park shape and duration of European settlement. Many of these predictor variables are intercorrelated, so I used multiple regression to help separate their effects. In support of previous studies, native species richness was the best single predictor of alien species richness, probably because it was a good estimator of both park area and habitat diversity available for establishment of alien species. Other significant predictors of alien species richness were years of occupation of the area by European settlers and the human population size of adjacent counties. Climate, visitation rate, road length and park shape did not influence alien species richness. The proportion of alien species (alien richness/native richness) is inversely related to park area, in agreement with a previous study. By identifying which variables are most important in determining alien species richness, such findings suggest ways to reduce alien species establishment.

Abstract: Extensive areas in the mountain grasslands of central Argentina are heavily invaded by alien species from Europe. A decrease in biodiversity and a loss of palatable species is also observed. The invasibility of the tall-grass mountain grassland community was investigated in an experiment of factorial design. Six alien species which are widely distributed in the region were sown in plots where soil disturbance, above-ground biomass removal by cutting and burning were used as treatments. Alien species did not establish in undisturbed plots. All three types of disturbances increased the number and cover of alien species; the effects of soil disturbance and biomass removal was cumulative. Cirsium vulgare and Oenothera erythrosepala were the most efficient alien colonizers. In conditions where disturbances did not continue the cover of aliens started to decrease in the second year, by the end of the third season, only a few adults were established. Consequently, disturbances are needed to maintain ali...

Abstract: Hawaii's dry forests are among the most endangered of all ecosystems in the archipelago. Invasion of alien plant species into these ecosystems is one of the most significant threats to on-going efforts to preserve and restore Hawaii's remaining dry forests. Comparing the physiological performance of alien and native species can offer causal explanations behind the relative success of alien plant invasions within Hawaiian dry forests and elsewhere. We compared maximum rates of net CO2 assimilation, water-use efficiency (WUE), daily carbon gain, and leaf morphology for three native and two alien shrubby species growing within 1-m2 plots under two natural light (sub-canopy shade relative to open full sunlight) treatments. Maximum rates of net CO2 assimilation were similar between alien and native species (8.15 vs. 7.12 μmol m−2 s−1, respectively), however, native plants exhibited lower stomatal conductance and higher instantaneous WUE than alien plants in all treatments (0.13 mol m−2 s−1 and 72.36 μmol CO2 mol H2O−1 against 0.23 and 58.78, respectively). Alien plants had approximately 65% more aboveground biomass than native plants. This result may reflect differential seed production and seed bank viability between native and alien species. We found an overall strong, positive correlation between species-specific physiological traits and final species aboveground biomass. Based on this type of information we can predict species-specific boundaries across light gradients, and focus restoration efforts accordingly.

Abstract: There is a general concern that globalization will impose homogenized, cosmopolitan cultural patterns built on Eurocentric foundations, which inevitably flatten, reify, and manipulate cultural differences. This fear has serious grounds. There is no doubt that the transnational expansion of our age requires languages, institutions, and international functions in order to make possible communication on a global scale. Globalization is possible only in a world that has been previously reorganized by colonialism. What is feared most is a planetary radicalization toward a homogenized international culture, launched from the United States. Standing out is the powerful diffusion of North American pop culture, whose inventiveness, dynamism, and networks of circulation and marketing have spread its influence throughout the world. Already at the end of the thirties, Clement Greenberg was saying that kitsch was the first universal culture.1 The consolidation of English as the language of international com-

Abstract: Two new alien pteridophytes have become established in the Hawaiian Islands since 1996, bringing the total of naturalized alien ferns to 32. Also, established alien species continue to spread onto new islands.

Abstract: This chapter presents an overview of the current status of alien species in the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence River ecosystem, providing the first such assessment for the St. Lawrence River. It also evaluates the importance of downstream relative to upstream transfer of alien species between the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. More precisely, this analysis has the following aims: 1) to list the species introduced and established in the Great Lakes and in the St. Lawrence River in the past 200 years, 2) to examine the relative proportion of introduced species now found in each region, and 3) to assess and compare the historic and present rate of species introductions in each region and thereby determine the extent to which the St. Lawrence River represents a potential source of alien species for the Great Lakes and other tributary drainage basins. For convenience, our inventory follows that of Mills et al. (1993) in including only freshwater aquatic species and excluding strictly terrestrial plants and large vertebrates such as reptiles, birds, and mammals.

Abstract: The nowadays flora of Fuerteventura contains some 780 species. At least 119 species are aliens, some 150 further species of mediterranean and/or North African origin are probably introduced too. The estimated percentage of aliens therefore reaches 35.

Abstract: Introduction - Method and Theory. Part 1 Alien Myth: Knowledge and the Production of Non-Knowledge Apocalypticism and Fragmentation. Part 2 Alien Myth and Post-War American History: Mythlogy and the Effects of Technologocentrism Consumption and the Movement of the General Economy Schizophrenia and the Governance of Excess Conclusion - Reading Alien Mythology.

Abstract: Invasion by alien species is one of the major contributors to the local and global loss of indigenous biological diversity, and a concern to managers of protected areas. The objectives of this study were to document and evaluate the distribution and abundance o( alien plant species in boreal ecosystems of Gros Morne National Park of Canada (GMNP). In areas susceptible to invasion by alien plants the physical parameters contributing to their presence or absence were determined. The importance of disturbance to alien plant invasion in boreal ecosystems was examined by evaluating how environmental conditions and diversity of alien species change as a function of disturbance regime. Functional characteristics contributing to successful invasion in GMNP were also examined. -- Alien plants were found in areas of anthropogenic and natural disturbance throughout GMNP with the greatest abundance and diversity of species occurring in disturbances close to high anthropogenic activity. Although alien plants were absent from undisturbed areas, their unexpected occurrence in disturbed areas remote from human activity is of great concern because they may alter ecosystem properties and displace native species in these areas. -- Vegetation types vulnerable to alien plant invasion in GMNP include forests, riparian areas, fens, and alpine meadows. Disturbance occurring in these vegetation types caused increases in bare ground and or light availability which allowed alien plants to invade these areas. Although high soil pH was associated with alien plants in these areas, disturbance was not found to cause changes in soil pH. This implies that areas susceptible to mv asion bv alien plants may be pre-determined by bedrock geology or other factors influencing soil pH. -- The abundance of alien plants changed from high to undisturbed disturbance regimes. The greatest percentage of alien species occurred at high disturbance regimes, while the total number of alien species was greatest at intermediate disturbance regimes. Moose (Alecs ulcus), a non-native herbivore, acted as the primary conduit for alien plant invasion in GMNP by dispersal of propagules and creating or prolonging disturbance bv trampling and browsing vegetation. Hiking trails were also found to be conduits for alien plant dispersal into natural areas. Areas no longer experiencing disturbance by anthropogenic activity required long periods of time to recover. These areas acted as foci in which alien species could persist and spread to other areas of GMNP. -- Species of concern in GMNP include Ranunculus repens. Tussdago farfara. Lvlhrum salicana. Digitalis purpurea. Hicracium spp.. Taraxacum officinale. Cirsium anense. and Mvosons scorpioules. -- Alien species able to successfully invade areas remote from human activity differed from alien species unable to invade these areas by exhibiting both vegetative reproduction and dispersal of asexually produced propagules. -- Boreal ecosystems can be invaded by alien plants. Management plans must monitor the presence and potential spread of alien plants in GMNP.