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Exotic herbivores represent a serious threat to native biodiversity, producing large scale changes in native communities and altering ecosystem processes. In this special issue, we present a series of case studies and reviews from different areas of the world that highlight (1) the consequences of herbivore introductions are a global problem; (2) they can result in wholesale shifts in the distribution of dominant plants on the landscape and; (3) the effects of herbivore introductions extend from the population to the community and ecosystem level. These studies suggest that introduced herbivores often retard ecosystem recovery after disturbance, facilitate invasion of plant species and can act as selective agents on native plant communities. These studies also suggest that several topics, including facilitation between exotic herbivores and exotic plants and animals (i.e., invasional meltdown) and the effect of exotic herbivores on ecosystem processes, require more research attention. Overall the papers in this special feature suggest that introduced herbivores are a global problem with wide-ranging ecological and evolutionary effects.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Ecosystem ecology, Exotic species, Introduced herbivores, Invasional meltdown
Research Division:	Environmental Sciences
Research Group:	Ecological applications
Research Field:	Biosecurity science and invasive species ecology
Objective Division:	Environmental Management
Objective Group:	Terrestrial systems and management
Objective Field:	Terrestrial biodiversity
UTAS Author:	Bailey, JK (Associate Professor Joe Bailey)
UTAS Author:	Schweitzer, JA (Dr Jen Schweitzer)
ID Code:	67467
Year Published:	2010
Web of Science® Times Cited:	53
Deposited By:	Plant Science
Deposited On:	2011-03-04
Last Modified:	2011-05-13
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