Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Historical background
- Part III Biogeography of taxa
- 7 Invasive plants of the Mediterranean Basin
- 8 Invasive vascular plants of California
- 9 Introduction of plants into the mediterranean-type climate area of Chile
- 10 Introduced plants of the fynbos biome of South Africa
- 11 Invasive plants of southern Australia
- 12 Life cycles of some Mediterranean invasive plants
- 13 Invasion processes as related to succession and disturbance
- 14 Is fire an agent favouring plant invasions?
- 15 Plant invasion and soil seed banks: control by water and nutrients
- 16 Invasion by annual brome grasses: a case study challenging the homoclime approach to invasions
- 17 Patterns of Pleistocene turnover, current distribution and speciation among Mediterranean mammals
- 18 Introduced mammals in California
- 19 Ecology of a successful invader: the European rabbit in central Chile
- 20 Mammals introduced to the mediterranean region of South Africa
- 21 Mammals introduced to southern Australia
- 22 Invasions and range modifications of birds in the Mediterranean Basin
- 23 Invasions in the mediterranean avifaunas of California and Chile
- 24 Birds introduced to the fynbos biome of South Africa
- 25 Species of introduced birds in mediterranean Australia
- Part IV Applied aspects of mediterranean invasions
- Part V Overview
- Index of scientific names
- Subject index
7 - Invasive plants of the Mediterranean Basin
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Historical background
- Part III Biogeography of taxa
- 7 Invasive plants of the Mediterranean Basin
- 8 Invasive vascular plants of California
- 9 Introduction of plants into the mediterranean-type climate area of Chile
- 10 Introduced plants of the fynbos biome of South Africa
- 11 Invasive plants of southern Australia
- 12 Life cycles of some Mediterranean invasive plants
- 13 Invasion processes as related to succession and disturbance
- 14 Is fire an agent favouring plant invasions?
- 15 Plant invasion and soil seed banks: control by water and nutrients
- 16 Invasion by annual brome grasses: a case study challenging the homoclime approach to invasions
- 17 Patterns of Pleistocene turnover, current distribution and speciation among Mediterranean mammals
- 18 Introduced mammals in California
- 19 Ecology of a successful invader: the European rabbit in central Chile
- 20 Mammals introduced to the mediterranean region of South Africa
- 21 Mammals introduced to southern Australia
- 22 Invasions and range modifications of birds in the Mediterranean Basin
- 23 Invasions in the mediterranean avifaunas of California and Chile
- 24 Birds introduced to the fynbos biome of South Africa
- 25 Species of introduced birds in mediterranean Australia
- Part IV Applied aspects of mediterranean invasions
- Part V Overview
- Index of scientific names
- Subject index
Summary
The natural vegetation of the Mediterranean Basin is disappearing rapidly. From cultivated areas, it disappeared long ago; in the rest of the Basin it is now threatened because of increasing human demand for space, food, energy and urban settlement. Native vegetation is also disappearing because of incidents related to the misuse of land or because of natural disasters such as floods and forest fires.
The various Mediterranean environments, whether cultivated or not, have been affected to varying extents, so that some situations may be more accurately described as being ‘new’ environments. The human desire to expand cultivation of specific plants (mainly introduced) and to increase their yields, results in disturbance and a severe change in the utilised environments because of the introduction of new species, their cultivation in glasshouses and the use of irrigation and/or herbicides. In such environments, which are exploited presently or have been used formerly, some plants can either establish or increase their density to the extent that they can be termed invasive. Plants which become invasive in particular environments within the region from which they originate are termed ‘apophytes’. Plants invading after their deliberate introduction (for afforestation or for cropping), or after being introduced inadvertently (as contaminated seeds, ship ballast or in wool), are termed ‘anthropophytes’, after Quézel et al. (1990). Crop invaders, which eventually cause serious economic problems in crop management systems or by decreasing yields, I shall call ‘weeds’; this class of invasive plant is often the most aggressive.
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- Information
- Biogeography of Mediterranean Invasions , pp. 67 - 80Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1991
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