北米東部のクリ胴枯病などの植物病原菌から、南部全域に広がったヒアリ、カリブ海やハワイに生息する捕食性のインドマングース、フロリダの湿地の巨大なビルマニシキヘビなど、米国で確認できる外来種は大小さまざまです。多くの外来種は安全で有益な場合さえあります。しかし、有害な外来種は世界経済に毎年数十億ドルの損失を与え、農業を荒廃させ、苦痛を伴い人を死に追いやる病気を蔓延させるなど、無数の驚くべき方法で我々の日常を脅かしています。
侵入生物学の権威、ダニエル・シンバロフは、本書で侵略的外来生物のあらゆる側面に光を当て、広範で有益な情報を読者に提供しています。数多くの外来種のケーススタディを盛り込み、人がどのように（時には不注意で、時には意図的に）外来種を持ち込んでいるかといったことから、最も多くの生物学的侵略を受けた地域、国境の安全を守る方法、これらを管理するための政策、外来種の拡散を制御する将来の展望など、豊富な話題を取り上げています。さまざまな生態系への直接的・間接的影響を分析するほか、西ナイルウイルスの媒介種であるアジア蚊などの外来種がどのように病原体を媒介するかを説明します。また、二つ以上の外来種が組み合わさって、単独よりはるかに大きな破壊的影響を与える「侵略のメルトダウン」理論についても解説しています。さらに、侵略的外来種を取り巻く、物議を醸す問題も取り上げ、推奨図書の一覧や、関連するウェブサイトも紹介しています。
    

• A succinct, readable analysis of the economics, politics, and science of invasive species
• Written by a leading invasion biologist
• Includes case studies on current biological invaders, each year costing billions of dollars in economic and ecological harm

 
Invasive species come in all sizes, from plant pathogens like the chestnut blight in eastern North America, to the red imported fire ant that has spread throughout the South, the predatory Indian mongoose now found in the Caribbean and Hawaii, and the huge Burmese python populating the Florida swamps. And while many invasive species are safe and even beneficial, the more harmful varieties cost the world economy billions of dollars annually, devastate agriculture, spread painful and even lethal diseases, and otherwise diminish our quality of life in myriad surprising ways. 
   
In Invasive Species: What Everyone Needs to Know, award-winning biologist Daniel Simberloff offers a wide-ranging and informative survey that sheds light on virtually every aspect of these biological invaders. Filled with case studies of an astonishing array of invasive species, the book covers such topics as how humans introduce these species-sometimes inadvertently, but often deliberately-the areas that have suffered the most biological invasions, the methods we use to keep our borders safe, the policies we currently have in place to manage these species, and future prospects for controlling their spread. An eminent ecologist, Simberloff analyzes the direct and indirect impacts of invasive species on various ecosystems, such as when non-native species out-compete native species for food or light, describes how invasive species (such as the Asian mosquito that is a vector for West Nile virus, itself an invasive species) transmit pathogens, and explains his acclaimed theory of "invasional meltdown" in which two or more introduced species combine to produce a far more devastating impact than any one of them would have caused alone. The book also discusses the more controversial issues surrounding invasive species and it concludes with suggested readings and a list of related web sites.