| Sumario: | The spread of nonnative exotic species, also known as bioinvasion, is a major ecological threat. Although bioinvasion may be the least obvious and least predictable of all of the major dimensions of ecological destruction, it is also one of the most dangerous, as exotics often cause pressures for which no local evolutionary precedent exists—native species simply may not be adapted to coexist with the invaders. As a result, bioinvasion is increasingly leading to widespread suppression and sometimes extinction of native species and, as a threat to global biological diversity, may now be surpassed only by habitat loss. Some exotics are intentionally released—such as trees for plantations or fish for aquaculture; however, many of the most serious invasions have been accidental, with industry and trade continuously leaking weeds, forest pests, aggressive crabs, predatory jellyfish, and all types of exotics into the natural spaces of the world.
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