A Brief History of Invasion Biology (3 of 3): From a simmer to a boil

A new branch of ecology emerges, but not a consensus

The next milestone in the history of invasion biology is the publication of The Genetics of Colonizing Species in 1965. This volume compiled the proceedings of the first Biological Sciences Symposium of the International Union of Biological Sciences, held in Asilomar, California. According to Davis, the objective of this symposium was to “bring together geneticists, ecologists, taxonomists, and applied scientists working in the area of pest control and to present and discuss facts and ideas ‘about the kinds of evolutionary change which take place when organisms are introduced into new territories’”i [our emphasis]. Davis points out:

One noteworthy aspect of the book is the striking contrast between the language used by the authors and that commonly used by invasion ecologists today. A careful search of the book’s text is necessary to find terms such as ‘alien’, ‘exotic’, ‘invader’, and ‘invasion’. Most authors never used these words… Thus, participants did not adopt the effusive style used by Elton in his 1958 book, characterized by the frequent use of metaphor and analogy, often with explicit militaristic references.ii