Biological invasions and the loss of birds on islands: Insights into the idiosyncrasies of extinction
The spread of humans around the globe in the last few millenia has led (and is leading) to the alteration of virtually all ecological systems as exotic species become established and native species are driven to extinction. These two processes are connected: indeed, since an exotic species can be defined as one transported and introduced to a new location by human agency, which definition clearly includes Homo sapiens, the vast majority of all recent extinctions can probably be attributed to the action of exotics. However, obviously not all native species go extinct following human arrival.