Invasive Aliens: Rabbits, rhododendrons, and the other animals and plants taking over the British Countryside

Invasive Aliens: Rabbits, rhododendrons, and the other animals and plants taking over the British Countryside
Dan Eatherley

A unique history of plant and animal invaders of the British isles spanning thousands of years of arrivals and escapes, as well as defences mounted and a look to the future.As Brits we pride ourselves as stoic defenders, boasting a record of resistance dating back to 1066.Yet, even a cursory examination of the natural world reveals that while interlopers of the human variety may have been kept at bay, our islands have been invaded, conquered and settled by an endless succession of animals, plants, fungi and other alien lifeforms that apparently belong elsewhere. Indeed it’s often hard to work out what actually is native, and what is foreign.From early settlement of our islands, through the Roman and mediaeval period, to the age of exploration and globalisation, today’s complement of alien species tells a story about our past.

Copyright (#u5db72b48-1e9f-5b3d-bbcc-656d1c20e854)

William Collins

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London SE1 9GF

WilliamCollinsBooks.com (http://www.williamcollinsbooks.com)

This eBook first published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2019

Copyright © Dan Eatherley 2019

Nineteenth-century engravings on chapter title pages are © Shutterstock, with the exception of chapter 6, which is © ilbusca / Getty Images

Cover design © Jo Walker

Cover images © Getty Images

Dan Eatherley asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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Source ISBN: 9780008262747

eBook Edition © June 2019 ISBN: 9780008262761

Version: 2019-05-28

Dedication (#u5db72b48-1e9f-5b3d-bbcc-656d1c20e854)

To Georgia

Epigraph (#u5db72b48-1e9f-5b3d-bbcc-656d1c20e854)

‘Turkeys, carps, hops, pickerel, and beer,

Came into England all in one year.’

Chronicle of the Kings of England

unto the Death of King James, Sir Richard Baker, 1643

Contents

Cover (#uc4dba57b-629f-5f08-8d9d-a27e4ff12bc4)

Title Page (#u52a763da-faf3-52f7-a9c1-4bd230164c68)

Copyright

Dedication

Epigraph

Prologue

1 Ecological Explosions

2 First Invaders

3 Romans and Normans

4 New Worlds, New Invaders

5 The Empire Strikes Back

6 The Plant Hunters

7 Unwanted Hitch-Hikers

8 Fur Farm

9 Freshwater Invaders

10 Underneath the Waves

11 Fighting Fire with Fire

12 The Future

Further Reading

Index of Species

General Index

Acknowledgements

About the Book