Biological Invasions: Stemming the Tide in Florida

Invasive, adventive species present a significant challenge to environmental resource managers. Unless this problem is addressed, natural areas face loss of biodiversity and habitat integrity. Traditional control methods are often inappropriate or impractical for use in natural areas. Strategies using biological control, a discipline of applied ecology, offer the best hope for reducing deleterious impacts of invaders. Arguments by some ecologists that classical biological controls contribute to the problem appear unwarranted. These criticisms should not be dismissed out of hand, however. Instead, they should foster in biocontrol scientists a renewed dedication to the safe practice of their discipline and an increased concern for collateral impacts of released organisms on native species.