Since the arrival of Europeans about 500 years ago, an estimated 50,000 non-native species have been introduced to North America (including Hawaii). Non-native species figure prominently in our lives, often as ornamentals, sources of food or pests. Although many introduced species are beneficial, there is increasing awareness of the enormous economic costs associated with non-native pests. In contrast, the ecological impacts of non-native species have received much less public and scientific attention, despite the fact that invasion by exotic species ranks second to habitat destruction as a cause of species loss. In particular, there is little information about the ecological impacts of hyper-diverse groups such as terrestrial fungi and invertebrates.

A science symposium, Ecological impacts of non-native invertebrates and fungi on terrestrial ecosystems, held in 2006, brought together scientists from the USA and Canada to review the state of knowledge in this field of work. Additional reviews were solicited following the symposium. The resulting set of review/synthesis papers and case studies represents a cross-section of work on ecological impacts of non-native terrestrial invertebrates and fungi. Although there is a strong focus on Canadian work, there is also significant presentation of work in the northern USA and Europe.

Stories about sinister centipedes are legendary but behind the myths lie an important, valuable, and harmless group of invertebrate predators performing a vital service to ecosystems by helping to keep plant-eating pest populations in check. Orin McMonigle's Centipedes in Captivity details the five chilopod orders, highlighting the biggest and most beautiful species commonly kept in captivity. Those who want to learn more about these magnificent creatures, their toxicology, biology, and variety will find the accounts just as useful as those interested in containing, mating, and successfully reproducing the more spectacular centipedes in the laboratory, or at home.

Thorp and Covich's Freshwater Invertebrates: Keys to Nearctic Fauna, Fourth Edition presents a comprehensive revision and expansion of this trusted professional reference manual and educational textbook-from a single North American tome into a developing multivolume series covering inland water invertebrates of the world. Readers familiar with the first three editions will welcome this new volume. The series, now entitled Thorp and Covich's Freshwater Invertebrates, (edited by J.H. Thorp), began with Volume I: Ecology and General Biology, (edited by J.H. Thorp and D.C. Rogers). It now continues in Volume II with taxonomic coverage of inland water invertebrates of the Nearctic zoogeographic region. As in previous editions, all volumes of the fourth edition are designed for multiple uses and levels of expertise by professionals in universities, government agencies, and private companies, as well as by undergraduate and graduate students.

This edited volume on the nematode model Pristionchus pacificus describes an integrative approach to evolutionary biology. It aims for a merger of evolutionary and comparative biology with mechanistic approaches based on genetics and molecular biology. Insight into the function of biological systems obtained from laboratory studies when complemented with ecology, natural variation and natural history of an organism, can provide detailed knowledge of the proximate and ultimate causations of species. Ralf J. Sommer developed P. pacificus as model system for integrative evolutionary biology with case studies in evo-devo and population genetics on La Reunion Island. Similarly, ecological interactions with scarab beetles revealed examples for the evolution of novelty at the morphological and behavioural level and their underlying molecular mechanisms. Contributors include Paul W. Sternberg, Ralf J. Sommer, Jagan Srinivasan, Christian Roedelsperger, Frank C. Schroeder, Robin M. Giblin-Davis, Natsumi Kanzaki, Matthias Herrmann, Angela McGaughran, Katy Morgan, Akira Ogawa, Federico D. Brown, Ray E. Hong, Robbie Rae, Amit Sinha, David Rudel, and Erik J. Ragsdale.

Do real stem cells and stem cell lineages exist in lower organisms? Can stem cells from one organism parasitize the soma and/or the germ line of conspecifics? Can differentiated cells in marine organisms be re-programmed to regenerate tissues, organs and appendages through novel de-differentiation, transdifferentiation, or re-differentiation processes, leading to virtually all three germ layers, including the germline? The positive answers to above questions open a new avenue in stem cell research: the biology of stem cells in marine organisms. It is therefore unfortunate that while the literature on stem cell from terrestrial organisms is rich and expanding at an exponential rate, investigations on marine organisms stem cells are very limited and scarce.

By presenting theoretical chapters, overview essays and specific research results, this book summarises the knowledge and the hypotheses on stem cells in marine organisms through major phyla and specific model organisms. The study on stem cells from marine invertebrates may shed lights on mechanisms promoting immunity, developmental biology, regeneration and budding processes in marine invertebrates, body maintenance, aging and senescence. It aims in encouraging a larger scientific community to follow and study the novel phenomena of stem cells behaviours as depicted from the few currently studied marine invertebrates.

This book contains 26 contributions dealing with the biology of aquatic oligochaetes and covers a wide range of topics including taxonomy, morphology, ultrastructure, embryology, reproduction, feeding biology, ecotoxicity, community studies, and species distribution. Descriptions of new taxa in tropical areas, including Amazonian forest soils, as well as overviews on the biodiversity of aquatic oligochaetes in Australia and European groundwaters, are presented. New morphological characteristics in both marine and freshwater species are described and interpreted. Laboratory studies contribute to the knowledge of oligochaete feeding biology and reproduction. The use of aquatic oligochaetes in ecological risk assessment is analysed in detail, and standardised experimental designs for studies on bioaccumulation and pollutant transfer by food are included. Finally, a number of papers present the effects of oliogochaetes on the performance of an activated sludge plant, and multivariate approaches to the spatial and/or temporal distribution and composition of oligochaete communities in many different areas of the world, from the scale of a river to the scale of the microhabitat. The broad scope of this volume is a reflection of recent rends, not only in oligochaete research, but also in general applied biological studies.

The term "zooplankton" describes the community of floating, often microscopic, animals that inhabit aquatic environments. Being near the base of the food chain, they serve as food for larger animals, such as fish.
The ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) Zooplankton Methodology Manual provides comprehensive coverage of modern techniques in zooplankton ecology written by a group of international experts. Chapters include sampling, acoustic and optical methods, estimation of feeding, growth, reproduction and metabolism, and up-to-date treatment of population genetics and modeling. This book will be a key reference work for marine scientists throughout the world.
Key features
* Sampling and experimental design
* Collecting zooplankton
* Techniques for assessing biomass and abundance
* Protozooplankton enumeration and biomass estimation
* New optical and acoustic techniques for estimating zooplankton biomass and abundance
* Methods for measuring zooplankton feeding, growth, reproduction and metabolism
* Population genetic analysis of zooplankton
* Modelling zooplankton dynamics
This unique and comprehensive reference work will be essential reading for marine and freshwater research scientists and graduates entering the field.

Bemisia tabaci (Gennedius) has distinguished itself from the more than 1,000 whitefly species in the world by its adaptability, persistence and potential to damage a wide range of agricultural and horticultural crops in all six of the world s inhabited continents. B. tabaci inflicts plant damage through direct feeding, inducement of plant disorders, vectoring of plant viruses and excretion of honeydew. This book collates multiple aspects of the pest ranging from basic to applied science and molecular to landscape levels of investigation. Experts in multiple disciplines provide broad, but detailed summaries and discussion of taxonomy, genetics, anatomy, morphology, physiology, behavior, ecology, symbiotic relationships, virus vector associations and various tactics for integrated management of this pest insect. The book is focused primarily on progress during the last 10-15 years and is directed at workers in the field as well as the informed professional who may not necessarily specialize in whitefly research. The book is unique in providing broad coverage in relatively few chapters by recognized experts that highlight the state-of-the-art in our understanding of this fascinating but troublesome cosmopolitan pest."

Sea anemones are among the most ancient of living metazoans. Long a paradigm of the "elementary nervous system" and constructional simplicity, sea anemones have been favourite experimental subjects in behavioural neurophysiology and in biomechanics. Their unique nematocyst toxins are used to study the sodium and calcium channels in excitable membranes, and their agonistic interactions provide insights into the evolution of allororecognition systems. Incorporation of algal endosymbionts by some of these animals combines in a single unit both primary producer and consumer, and provides a tight recycling of scarce nutrients between host and symbiont. Many species include vegetative proliferation or parthogenesis in their life cycle and are important organisms in the study of the evolutionary potential and adaptive demography of co-ordinated clonal growth and bisexual reproductive strategies. The ability of clonal anemones to recognize members of different clones upon contact provides insight into the evolution of immune systems. This book provides an introduction and synthesis of the biology of sea anemones. The text is cross-referenced and integrated, and together with a bibliography, should be valuable to those interested in the physiology, ecology, biochemistry, behaviour, population biology and evolution of this group of marine invertebrates. This book should be of interest to marine biologists, ecologists and zoologists with a general interest in themes such as symbiosis and life cycles.

The present volume deals with the most fascinating aspects of sensory performance studied in insects, crustaceans and spiders. Arthropods inhabit practically every conceivable ecological niche, and are perfectly adapted to cope with the constraints of their natural habitats. They move on the ground, in water, and in the air. They use visual, olfactory, acoustical, vibratory, and tactile cues for orientation, to recognize and pinpoint their target, their home place, a feeding site, a prey, or a potential mate. Many arthropods use celestial (skylight) and terrestrial (magnetic) compass cues for orientation, and some of them were shown to develop, through experience, oriented behaviours based on a variety of innate, hard-wired orientation mechanisms. In many cases, aspects of behaviour that are involved in orientation cannot be separated from inter- and intraspecific communication. The book brings to the fore the role of communication not only in social and sexual behaviours, but also in the context of oriented locomotion. Top, internationally renowned scientists have contributed to this volume and have succeeded in presenting a book full of highlights which will be of great interest to workers in this field of research. With contributions by F. G. Barth; D. von Helverson, K.-E. Kaissling, W. Kirchner, M. Walker, M. Weissburg, R. Campan, T. Collett, J. Zeil, K. Kirschfeld, R. Wehner, M. Srinivasan, M. Lehrer, R. Gadagkar.

Mir S. Mulla joined the faculty of the Entomology Department at the University of California, Riverside in 1956, only two years after the Riverside campus was established as an independent campus within the University of California system. Prior to his appointment, Mir received his B.S. from Cornell University and then moved to the University of California, Berkeley to pursue his graduate studies. His Ph.D. from Berkeley, awarded in 1955, completed his formal American education which was the purpose of his immigration from his native Kandahar in Afghanistan. In his over 50 years at Riverside, Mir has made an incalculable impact on vector biology both within the United States and in developing countries throughout the world. Within Southern California, Mir's basic and applied research led to the rapid and sustainable control of mosquitoes and eye gnats in the Coachella Valley and so directly enabled this region to grow to the thriving, large community it is today. In 2006 his efforts in facilitating the development of the low desert of southern California were recognized through the dedication of the Mir S. Mulla Biological Control Facility by the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District. His success has been so profound that it remains somewhat cryptic to the many who now reside in, visit, and enjoy, this region of California, oblivious to the insect problems that severely restrained development until Mir and his students ?rst applied their expertise many decades ago.

The Proceedings of the Seventh International Rotifer Symposium, Rotifera VII, spans subjects from community ecology through biochemistry, from the most basic science through the most clearly applied technology. Some papers report exceptional progress in our knowledge of rotifer anatomy and biochemistry, as well as rotifer molecular biology, evolution and life histories. The book also contains an interesting article describing a hundred years of Polish contributions to rotiferology as well as papers discussing both general patterns of rotifer biogeography and rotifer distribution in different habitats, together with many aspects of the ecology of rotifer species, populations and communities. Audience: This update on rotifer taxonomy, biology and ecology will be of great interest to zoologists, especially hydrobiologists studying the structure and function of freshwater zooplankton.

Meiobenthology is the science of the tiny animals that live in huge numbers in all aquatic sediments. This fully revised and enlarged second edition emphasizes new discoveries and developments in this field. Major progress has been made in three general areas: - Systematics, diversity and distribution, - Ecology, food webs, and energy flow, - Environmental aspects, including studies of anthropogenic impacts.

The meiobenthos of polar and tropical regions, deep-sea bottoms and hydrothermal vents are now studied in more detail. The high number of species found to survive under such extreme conditions puts them at the forefront of biodiversity studies. Molecular screening methods enable large numbers to be analyzed upon applying reasonable effort. The aim of this book is to synthesize these modern scientific achievements such that meiobenthology can play a key role in aquatic research and in assessing the health of our environment.