Customer Reviews

Out of Eden: An Odyssey of Ecological Invasion

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
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A worthy and timely read, providing a provocative and literary exploration of a topic that is of growing prominence and debate. It is a book to love for its exploration of a fascinating and timely subject, for the writing itself, and for Burdick's adeptness at taking the reader along for a remarkable exploration.

Burdick deserves high praise (which he is getting - see professional reviews) for the width and breadth of his research, travels and writing. The writing is wonderfully descriptive and poetic, the facts, processes and theories of invasive species biology and research are artfully described. These qualities, I believe, assure that the book will prove stimulating and readily enjoyable to readers who might not stray into the natural history and science fields otherwise.

A growing debate over "saving" endangered species has generated a rise in ecological studies. We too often view the issues raised in these discussion in too large a framework. Dams and chemicals savage habitat. Denuded rainforests reduce rain and reduce oxygen output. Disruption of the "balance of nature" must be stopped and reversed, according to environmental campaigners. There is another element rarely considered in ecological studies - how humans have been and are introducing new species into global habitats. Alan Burdick spent much of the past decade talking to the people who are investigating this phenomenon. This book is the result of his "odyssey". In a superb investigating account, he reveals what work has been achieved and what more is needed. Both accomplishments and unfinished studies are staggering in their scope and importance.

Opening his travel narrative with one of the more noted ecological disasters, he tours Guam, where an Australian reptile, the brown tree snake, devastated the indigenous species. Guam's isolation had protected its wildlife from major predators and thus was vulnerable to this invader. From the mid-Pacific, he visits Hawai'i [which he's careful to spell correctly, but only for a while]. The snake has almost certainly arrived in that State, but has been preceded by more notorious invaders - rats, goats and pigs. In Hawai'i, the pig occupies a less absolute value as an "alien" species. The Polynesian settlers brought pigs of their own all those hundreds of years ago. This "domestic" version is a major item in Hawai'ian culture, and hunting it is beset with ritual. It is reputed to be less destructive than the "wild" pigs left by Cook and other Europeans. Burdick explains how its uprooting practices might add new habitat to forest species. It is at this point that he introduces the problem of assessing just what values we must consider in determining what is "natural".

With millennia of species' movements throughout the world, humans don't have sufficient record of how various organisms have shifted location and how much they might have changed original habitats. The introduction of the brown tree snake is set in time - post World War II. How do we compare that to Darwin's Finches on the Galapagos? New species either fit into the existing environment or change it to a new stability. Burdick examines these questions in both biological and philosophical frameworks. Yet, as he makes clear, the philosophical resolution must await more research information.

For more detailed biological research Burdick returns to the mainland. Travelling with Jim Carlton, one of the heroes of this tale, he follows a team around San Francisco Bay. The Bay, a major Pacific port, receives millions of litres of "ballast water" every year. Picked up at points of origin almost anywhere in the world, this water keeps ships stable. The water, with all the marine organisms it contains, is dumped on arrival. Jim Carlton's team is not only counting and typing the organisms, they are trying to understand how the "invaders" react with the present environment. The research isn't confined to one area and some surprising results are described.

Far distant from San Francisco Bay, James Drake in Knoxville, Tennessee, performed a series of lab experiments. He sequentially added "new" species in controlled environments. Expecting to see the "intruders" overwhelming the prior organisms or be rejected, he was astonished to discover the intruders and "indigenous" organisms fit in without rancour. Even though each had but limited resources and occupied the same "niche", both survived intact. To Carlton, this study indicated that all the classical theories of "biogeography" need to be reconsidered - perhaps "turned on its head". In effect, introduced species can create "alternative" ecosystems. The result, as Carlton emphasizes, is that we have little idea of what a "natural" ecosystem actually is. Carlton's plea for more research and new students to perform it is a cry from the heart. The work is neither glamourous nor personally rewarding, but is essential to understanding ecological impact. Legislation is pending on the issue of ballast water dumping, but information remains insufficient to posit specifics.

The mass of world trade moves across the seas from point to point - ballast water being taken up and dumped with little idea of what it contains. Fleets of aircraft, carrying snakes, lizards or other durable animals, depart and land with crews unaware of the stowaways. What impact these conveyed intruders have remains a mystery in most places. There are new species of bacilli in one of NASA's "clean rooms" waiting hitch a ride to Mars and Europa. Are they invaders, modified from an organism carried in or something that evolved within the facility? Burdick echoes Carlton's call, reminding us that we haven't had enough time to assess the results of these transportations. Since we don't know what "unadulterated nature" is, we may be ignorantly suffering from changes. To Burdick and many of those he interviewed, "we must guard against everything". That's a big task. To learn how big, read this account. Then pass it on to your children. They are that new generation of researchers. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Who knew that a book about such a serious topic could be so witty and fun to read. Burdick takes the reader on an excellent world tour -- and he makes a the best sort of travel companion.

If you're tired of the shrill discourse that surrounds ecological matters, you'll welcome this book. Burdick has no axe to grind. He clearly went out to report on this complicated topic with an open mind. What does it mean to label something an invasive species? Can a non-native spieces increase the biodiversity of an ecosystem? Given that humans are the ultimate invasive species, what are our hopes for curbing the spread of other organisms? It's enjoyable to watch a savvy and smart journalist really think about these questions.

I just hate it when I get four pages into a "science" book and find a major, easy to "Fact check" error. The author asserts that Guam is fifteen hundred miles west of Honolulu. Actually it's 3,800 miles. He then tells us, page 71, that the submerged "new island" of Loihi is one mile from the Big Island of Hawaii. Actually its more than 20 miles from the coast.

While the story of the brown tree snake on Guam is an important one, it is much better told in Mark Jaffe's book "And No Birds Sing" (1994) and Jaffe's book has an Index. This one doesn't.

The last 80% of this book is about other "ecological invasions" that are interesting and not so familiar to me. The writing is pleasant, though chatty. But I wish I didn't feel I should wonder about the accuracy of the facts.

Shame on the Publisher, FSG.

This book is amazing! It combines scientific insight and thoughtful reflection into a funny, moving and incredibly smart read. The reporting on hilarious and bizarre species, plankton in ballast water, exploding snake populations, bacteria on its way to Mars, reframes the world into a roiling crowd of serendipitous explorers and opportunists, making you understand that aliens are alive, well, and reshaping the world we live in, ready or not. But better, the author is able to see himself through the same lens, reflecting on all of us as opportunists and explorers. His passages about seeing himself in the same impulses that lead to such invasions were for me the most memorable-- moving, funny, and touching. This book transcends the popular science genre, and gets deep.

Exotic animals and plants are crossing the globe into new areas as never before, fueled by human traffic into previously inaccessible areas. From bird-eating snakes which come to Hawaii in the landing gear of airplanes to giant Indonesian snakes which wind up beneath the homes of suburban Miami, introduced species are presenting a growing threat to biological diversity, crowding out native species and rapidly changing the world. Out Of Eden: An Odyssey Of Ecological Invasion represents Alan Burdick's personal tour of the front lines of ecological invasion around the world. It answers the basic question of why invasion issues are important to human lives - and how it's happening.

With engaging prose and a style reminiscent of John McPhee, Alan Burdick weaves together science, history, and culture, and introduces us to people on the front lines of invasion biology. Burdick begins with the now classic invasive species story of the brown tree snake in Guam. He then goes to Hawaii, arguably the invasive species capitol of the world, and finishes with a thorough look at the spread of marine invaders via ship ballast.

Burdick's is an even-handed treatment that considers many of the central questions in the burgeoning field of invasion biology. What distinguishes "natural" invaders from "unnatural" ones? After all, species have been moving around, colonizing new areas, from time immemorial. How do species change the physical and biotic structure of the ecosystems they invade? Are more diverse, stable communities more resistant to invasion than those with less biodiversity?

As a resident of Hawaii who has birded in the Mariana Islands, I was dismayed by the many factual errors I encountered in the book. Hawaii has no native fruit bat (p. 72), although we do have a species of insectivorous bat. Bird lovers will be relieved to hear that the Akohekohe is not yet extinct (p. 77). The Tinian Monarch, described by Burdick as "a saffron finch" (p. 41) is neither a finch, nor is its plumage particularly saffron. And, to my knowledge, DDT was never used as a defoliant (pp. 29-30). Such errors cast doubt on the veracity of other facts and figures he uses. Another serious drawback of the book, pointed out by other reviewers here, is the absence of a bibliography and index.

Still, the book is well worth reading and should play an important role in heightening public awareness of this growing ecological problem.

I enjoyed this book very much. It is an interesting and accessible discussion of the biological impact of invasive species. More than strictly a scientific book, this book discusses the incredible diversity of life forms and how they can thrive and survive in the most harsh environments, including outer space. A very pleasant read.

Burdick's book is, I believe, a good introductory book for laypersons who wish to know more about biological invasions, and some of the debate over how to handle the problem. His example with feral pigs in Hawaii, and Hawaiian hunters (a good number are "native" Hawaiians) shows that not everyone views an invasive organism as completely harmful.

I was disappointed by the lack of an index and works cited/bibliography section of this book. Any science writer should know the importance for these sections. Hopefully someone will bring this up to Burdick, so next time he won't make such a folly.

Quite simply an amazing book. Compulsively readable, masterfully researched, artfully told. A gorgeous piece of work.