ABSTRACT
Terrestrial vertebrates make up a relatively small percentage (∼1.92%; 33,278 of 1,730,725) of the world's biodiversity in comparison to plants, invertebrates, and microbes (The World Conservation Union 2014). Though lower in diversity, terrestrial vertebrates have played a large role in human societies as a source of food, fiber, labor, and in culture. In particular, because humans have domesticated a number of animals and have great affinity for many others, we have inadvertently initiated a grand experiment by moving them around the world with us, either intentionally or accidentally. While many of these animal introductions did not lead to invasions, other times, introductions have led to animals becoming invasive. These invasions have caused a wide range of ecological problems ranging from alteration of basic ecological processes to the extinction of species (e.g., cats and rats exterminating birds, lizards, and insects on oceanic islands; Priddel et al. 2003; Stolzenburg 2011). Moreover, these invasive animals cause a wide range of problems to human society (Chapter 3), costing the U.S. economy billions of dollars each year (Pimentel et al. 2005; Chapter 3)
