Invasion! The Biological Consequences of Settlement

Andrew Hill Clark's 1949 book, The Invasion of New Zealand by People, Plants and Animals was ahead of its time. Today we have sweeping world histories by such historians as Alfred Crosby and William McNeill to document the biological consequences of contacts between cultures and between continents. When people cross oceans, they take with them, intentionally or accidentally, diverse plants and animals that often have unanticipated impacts on their new homes.

Landscapes are transformed, native species are extinguished, exotic species become boons or plagues, human cultures are changed. Clark's book, focusing on the South Island of New Zealand, explored these themes long before it was fashionable to do so.

Clark wrote, "This book is a report on a revolutionary change in the character of a region, which occurred in a period of less than two centuries. One of the most important factors in the change was the invasion of the area by armies of plants and animals, which, with the help of man, mingled with or displaced the native flora and fauna."

Invading Animals Treated by Clark

Sheep: "Of all the introductions to South Island by the occupying European culture, there has been none of greater economic importance than that of the sheep." From an Australian hearth.

Cattle: dairy, beef, and draft animals.

Other domestic animals: horses, pigs, goats.

Rabbits: "The rabbit has become one of the most familiar and most notorious occupants of the South Island landscape."

Large graziers and browsers: deer, wild pigs, chamois, thar. "The strong demand for the establishment of game animals in New Zealand by all social classes among the settlers resulted, as has been indicated, in the formation of very active acclimatization societies."

Invading Plants Treated by Clark

Crops: potatoes, wheat, turnips and swedes.

Grasses (especially cocksfoot) and clovers, replacing tussock with sown pastures.

Trees: chiefly Monterey pine and gorse. "Canterbury's plains are crisscrossed today with hedges of gorse (Ulex europaeus) as are the fields of Devonshire or Hampshire; river valleys and abandoned cultivations or clearings are yellow with its blossoms. . . . the well-trimmed hedge is such an accepted criterion of good husbandry that pride combines with prudence to keep most of the hedges neatly cut back each year."

Some Discussion Questions

What are some examples from your own localities and experiences of species that have transformed a landscape?

What are some examples from your own localities and experiences of species that have been introduced to a new environment and become pests?

From your knowledge of the geography of Australia and New Zealand, and readings such as Flannery, what peculiar conditions and hazards attended the introduction of new species to Australia and New Zealand?

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