Islands and Invasives: The Archaeology of Plant and Animal Translocations

Globalization has led to the rapid spread of invasive species, but the movement of species through trade networks and human migration is an ancient phenomenon extending back at least 20,000 years. The time depth of ancient translocations of non-domesticated animals often blurs the division between natural and cultural worlds and challenges ideas of “pristine” land or seascapes. Islands, with bounded landscapes and limited resources, are particularly susceptible to dramatic environmental and cultural changes following the introduction or invasion of new taxa. This session explores the mode of dispersal, the impacts, and the methods used to study the translocation and invasion of wild and domestic plants and animals to island environments. The investigation of ancient species translocations by humans can help document the structure and function of both ancient and modern ecosystems, the evolutionary history of domesticated and wild plants and animals, human-environmental relationships in the past and present, and provide data for the conservation of contemporary ecosystems