Biological Invasions in the Anthropocene

For millennia human beings have served as dispersing agents for other organisms (Elton 1958). Thus, it is not surprising that the patterns and processes associated with human movement across geographical, biogeographical, and political boundaries are reflected in the current distribution of plants, animals, and microorganisms (McNeely 2001; Crosby 2004). In fact, the history of human movement and its relation with exchange of goods have provided new means and routes of dispersal by which organisms mobilize (Kowarik 2003; Pysek and Prach 2003; Perrings et al. 2005; Meyerson and Mooney 2007). For this reason, the consideration of contextual aspects, both historical and geographical, associated with human beings contribute to improving our understanding of biological invasions today (di Castri 1989). This situation is particularly true for South America, because as history has shown, this region was colonized by Europeans from the sixteenth century, a fact that led to the introduction of a number of species for domestic use that allowed the first settlers to settle more easily.