Killer Algae

Alexandre Meinesz, Daniel Simberloff, Daniel Simberloff

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French

University of Chicago Press
01 May 2001

Series: Emersion: Emergent Village resources for communities of faith

"Two decades ago, a Stuttgart zoo imported a lush, bright green seaweed for its aquarium. Caulerpa taxifolia was captively bred by the zoo and exposed, for years, to chemicals and ultraviolet light. Eventually a sample of it found its way to the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco, then headed by Jacques Cousteau. Fifteen years ago, while cleaning its tanks, that museum dumped the pretty green plant into the Mediterranean.

This supposedly benign little plant—that no one thought could survive the waters of the Mediterranean—has now become a pernicious force. Caulerpa taxifolia now covers 10,000 acres of the coasts of France, Spain, Italy, and Croatia, and has devastated the Mediterranean ecosystem. And it continues to grow, unstoppable and toxic. When Alexandre Meinesz, a professor of biology at the University of Nice, discovered a square-yard patch of it in 1984, he warned biologists and oceanographers of the potential species invasion. His calls went unheeded. At that point, one person could have pulled the small patch out and ended the problem. Now, however, the plant has defeated the French Navy, thwarted scientific efforts to halt its rampage, and continues its destructive journey into the Adriatic Sea.

Killer Algae is the biological and political horror story of this invasion. For despite Meinesz's pleas to scientists and the French government, no agency was willing to take responsibility for the seaweed, and while the buck was passed, the killer algae grew. And through it all, the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco sought to exculpate itself. In short, Killer Algae—part detective story and part bureaucratic object lesson—is a classic case of a devastating ecological invasion and how not to deal with it.

""[U]tterly fascinating, not only because of the ecological battles [Meinesz] describes but also because of the wondrous natural phenomena involved.""—Richard Bernstein, New York Times

""Akin to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Killer Algae shows the courage of a voice in the wilderness.""—Choice

""A textbook case of how not to manage an environmental disaster.""—Kirkus Reviews

""Meinesz's story is a frightening one, reading more like a science fiction thriller than a scientific account.""—Publishers Weekly"

By: Alexandre Meinesz
Translated by: Daniel Simberloff, Daniel Simberloff
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 20mm, Width: 15mm, Spine: 2mm
Weight: 482g
ISBN: 9780226519234
ISBN 10: 0226519236
Series: Emersion: Emergent Village resources for communities of faith
Pages: 360
Publication Date: 01 May 2001
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , A / AS level , Further / Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

"From the discovery of the alga in Monaco to its arrival in France; the alga grows - and the polemic begins; ""Caulerpa Taxifolia"", superstar; the stakeholders squabble - and the alga spreads; research progresses - and the polemic persists; Chiaroscuro - 1997-1998; the three lessons of ""Caulerpa"". Appendices: the biology of ""Caulerpa taxifolia"" as known in 1991; chronology of a heralded invasion. (Part contents)."

Alexandre Meinesz is a professor of biology at the University of Nice and a member of various scientific committees on the environment. Daniel Simberloff is the Nancy Gore Hunger Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.