Fifty Years of Invasion Ecology: The Legacy of Charles Elton

Abstract

Invasive alien organisms pose a serious threat to the biodiversity and functioning of many marine and terrestrial environments in the world. British ecologist Charles Elton realised this and wrote about it more than 50 years ago in a classic book entitled The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants. What has happened since Elton's 1958 milestone contribution? How has the field developed and what are the major advances and challenges faced by the broad discipline of invasion ecology? To answer these and other questions, the Centre for Invasion Biology (CIB) at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, hosted a symposium in November 2008 which was attended by 137 delegates from at least 14 countries. This book is one of the main products of the symposium.