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Science 10 March 2006:
Vol. 311. no. 5766, p. 1341
DOI: 10.1126/science.311.5766.1341g
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Biological invasions by exotic species are a leading threat to native biodiversity and entail enormous monetary costs. In a meta-analysis of field studies from a wide range of ecosystems, Parker et al. (p. 1459) challenge the hypothesis that invasive exotic plants become a problem in their adoptive lands because they left their coevolved herbivores behind. Instead, herbivores in the invaded communities are better able to resist invaders than do the enemies of those plants in their original home. By the same token, introduced herbivores are harder on native plants in lands they invade than on introduced plants, including those with which they coevolved. Thus, the replacement of native with exotic herbivores triggers an invasional "meltdown" whereby one exotic species facilitates invasions by others.




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)