Abstract
This book is a checklist of over 450 plant species world-wide, that have been identified
as invasive. The author includes all species that are invasive in natural and semi-natural
ecosystems and, according to McNeely (2001), are agents of change and threaten native
biological diversity. The documentation on each species consists of one page, which contains
notes on geographic distribution and status of invasiveness in that region (native,
introduced but not invasive, invasive or unclear status). Descriptions on growth habit,
seed and flower morphology, ecology and control and a large set of references are also
included. That in itself sums it up. The book is a very extensive and certainly impressively
documented checklist of a large number of ¿environmental weeds¿ on our globe. To some
extent, this information is of course nowadays also accessible via internet, but the author
has certainly gone beyond an average google effort, by producing a large well documented
database. Particularly, the notes on geographical distribution as well as on growth form
are useful. As a reference work it is thus valuable and highly recommended for University
and College Libraries. However, the book also has some flaws. Limiting the descriptions
of species to one page only, also limits the total presented information per species. For
additional background information one must refer to the cited references, not all of which
may be easily to obtain. Moreover, the species are cited in alphabetic order and readers
interested in taxonomic relationships among invasive plant species may take some time
to extract the information manually. Most of all it seems a pity, that the book does not
come with a searchable CD-ROM, something that should be remedied in a next edition.
Having noted this, of great value is the use of the clear definition of invasiveness confining
it to the true invaders with a high competitive ability. Thus, the information is not only
useful for those involved in scientific research but also particularly for colleagues working
in invasive plant pest control agencies. The price may however be prohibitive for most
private individuals and students. This could be remedied by a cheaper paperback edition.
All in all, the book remains a welcome addition on the subject
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 472-472 |
Number of pages | 1 |
Journal | Phytocoenologia |
Volume | 36 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2006 |