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of introduced species might be understood after theyhave happened, but forecasting their occurrence, scopeandmagnitude is fraughtwithdifficulty.As such,webelievethat the problem of uncertainty surrounding risk assess-ments of species translocations has been grossly underratedin this debate. At present, it is not possible to estimateaccurately the likelihood of ecological harm with transloca-tion or the likelihood of extinctionwithout it. Risk scores canbe obtained using a variety of algorithms and decisionframeworks, but they are not necessarily trustworthy andcould bemisleading. Given the spatial and temporal contextdependence of impacts [5,13] and the complexity of indirectand cumulative effects [14] of introduced species, it is naıveto assume that current risk assessment tools are adequatefor anticipating undesirable consequences thatmight ensuefrom planned invasions.

References1 Ricciardi, A. and Simberloff, D. (2009) Assisted colonization is not a

viable conservation strategy. Trends Ecol. Evol. 24, 248–2532 Schlaepfer, M.A. et al. (2009) Assisted colonization: evaluating

contrasting management actions (and values) in the face ofuncertainty. Trends Ecol. Evol. 24, 471–472

3 Clavero, M. andGarcıa-Berthou, E. (2005) Invasive species are a leadingcause of animal extinctions. Trends Ecol. Evol. 20, 110

Corresponding author: Gordon, D.M. (dmgordon@stanford.edu).

4 BirdLife International (2000) Threatened Birds of the World. LynxEdicions

5 Parker, I.M. et al. (1999) Impact: toward a framework for understandingthe ecological effects of invaders. Biol. Invasions 1, 13–19

6 Spear, D. and Chown, S.L. (2009) The extent and impacts of ungulatetranslocations: South Africa in a global context. Biol. Conserv. 142, 353–

3637 Sax, D.F. et al. (2009) Managed relocation: a nuanced evaluation is

needed. Trends Ecol. Evol. 24, 472–4738 Charles, H. and Dukes, J.S. (2007) Impacts of invasive species on

ecosystem services. In Biological Invasions (Nentwig, W., ed.), pp. 217–

237, Springer9 Mack, R.N. et al. (2000) Biotic invasions: causes, epidemiology, global

consequences and control. Ecol. Appl. 10, 689–71010 Vitt, P. et al. (2009) Assisted migration: part of an integrated

conservation strategy. Trends Ecol. Evol. 24, 473–47411 Schwartz, M.W. et al. (2009) The precautionary principle in managed

relocation is misguided advice. Trends Ecol. Evol. 24, 47412 Fazey, I. and Fischer, J. (2009) Assisted colonization is a techno-fix.

Trends Ecol. Evol. 24, 47513 Strayer, D.L. et al. (2006) Understanding the long-term effects of

species invasions. Trends Ecol. Evol. 21, 645–65114 White, E.M. et al. (2006) Biotic indirect effects: a neglected concept in

invasion biology. Divers. Distrib. 12, 443–455

0169-5347/$ – see front matter � 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2009.05.005

Book Review

Galaxies of the antsThe Lives of Ants by Laurent Keller and Elizabeth Gordon. Oxford University Press, 2009. £14.99 hbk (272 pages) ISBN: 978 0 19 954186 7

Deborah M. Gordon

Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020, USA

The Lives of Ants, written for a popularaudience, covers ant behavior, ecology and

found that the results of studies were reported incorrectlyor a controversial interpretation was stated as although it

evolution in a lively way. Topics includeant diversity, the social organization ofcolonies, detailed accounts of species withinteresting ecology, the evolution of euso-ciality through kin selection, some of Kel-ler and colleagues’ recent work on antgenetics, and the use of ant models inrobotics. There is also a section of wonder-

ful photographs, taken mostly by Alex Wild. The bookemphasizes the work of Europeans, a refreshing changefor the small field of myrmecology, which has been sodominated by American researchers.

The Lives of Ants is written from inside a universewherewe already know everything we need to know – the uni-verse yearned for, some believe, by the ‘educated layperson’ who buys books about science. The authors takethe upbeat tone of tour guides, showing the uninitiated thedelights of ants.

However, reading the book as a scientist who inhabits auniverse where we still have much to learn, I sometimes

were fact. Although the inaccuracies were small, moreimportant are the broad claims that are so simplified thatthey end up beingwrong; for example, that invasive speciessucceed because they are ‘faster and better at finding food’.This might be why some invasive species do thrive in someplaces, but it is not clear how we could demonstrate thisand it is certainly not the case that it is always true.Sometimes, the reader is asked to gloss over complicatedideas. For example, in the discussion of the genetics ofbehavior, a paragraph of caveats about the role of environ-ment in determining behavior is followed by ‘All that said,facts are facts’, by which we are meant to understand thatgenes determine behavior. But what are the facts, exactly?

The translation from the French is awkward in places,and the attempt to be catchy sometimes leads to excesses ofcuteness. For example, ‘Nowt so rum as ants!’ is the perkytitle of a section that begins ‘Every society has its out-standing personalities, its stars, who swagger through lifeand are made much of. The galaxies of the ants are noexception, for they too have their stars, extraordinaryluminaries with original ways of doing things and anticsthat prove very attractive to myrmecologists’. Perhaps in

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French, this cluster of metaphors was different, given, forexample, that ‘societe’ does not mean the same thing as‘society’; however, in English, it is perplexing. The 11 000or more species of ants do not constitute a society in whichsome make much of others; I’ve never seen an ant swaggerand, if I did, I’m not sure that I would find it attractive.

I share the authors’ enthusiasm for ants, and I am gladto see a book that effectively spreads the word. However, Iwonder if it is in anyone’s interest to give the public theirscience sugar-coated, even if some prefer it that way.

Corresponding author: Kearney, M.R. (mrke@unimelb.edu.au).

478

I would have liked to have seen more careful attentiongiven to the many intriguing scientific questions that stillremain about ants. To show the public the best of what wedo, and what we ask it to support, we need to show that wehave rigorous ways to obtain and assemble evidence for ourexplanations.

0169-5347/$ – see front matter � 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2009.04.002 Available online 4 May 2009

Book Review

No sex please, we’re clonalClonality: The Genetics, Ecology, and Evolution of Sexual Abstinence in Vertebrate Animals by John Avise. Oxford University Press,2008. £26.99 (hbk) (256 pages) ISBN-13: 978 0 19 536967 0

Michael R. Kearney

Zoology Department, University of Melbourne,Victoria 3010, Australia

Sexual reproduction is a strange and com-plicated procedure and life would be much

molecular phylogenetic analyses is the short-lived natureof clonal organisms on evolutionary timescales. By the

simpler without it. There would be nodivision of individuals into somatic andgametic cell lineages, or of populationsinto genders with conflicting interests;neither would populations be genomicallyunited as a species through the intricateprocesses of meiosis and fertilization. Yet,so accustomed are we to genetic mixing

and associated phenomena, such as courtship and peacocktails, that, when confronted with the much simpler idea ofclonally derived organisms, our usual reaction is astonish-ment. The successful production of Dolly the sheep throughthe cloning of a somatic cell from her mother [1] madeglobal headlines and captured the imagination of scientistsand laypersons alike. What kind of world would it be if wewere to give up sex and opt for the clonal life?

In Clonality, John Avise offers a guided tour throughthis world of clonal reproduction, as practiced by thevertebrates. The tour is broken into four parts: (i) back-ground details on clonality and the paradox of sex; (ii)asexual clonality in nature, including parthenogenesisand semi-chaste variants thereof; (iii) sexual clonality innature, such as polyembryony; and (iv) clonal technology inthe laboratory. Avise is a well-qualified guide, havingcontributed substantially to our understanding of unisex-ual vertebrates in nature and the laboratory. This is, inpart, through his pioneeringworkwithmitochondrial DNAmarkers [2]. As he emphasizes in Chapter One, mitochon-drial DNA inheritance is one of many examples of clonalphenomena widespread within individuals, irrespective ofwhether they reproduce sexually. Throughout the book,Avise shows how crucial this DNA marker has been inresolving the evolutionary origins of clonally reproducingorganisms. Another theme in Clonality that derives from

end of the tour, the uninitiated should have a balancedand informed perspective from which to consider thesometimes highly controversial issues of clonality in thelaboratory.

The concepts inClonalityare vividly and entertaininglyconveyed. For example, gametes are described as ‘inter-generation lifeboats for genes thatmust flee somatic ships,all of which are guaranteed to eventually sink’. Althoughthe writing style and the detailed glossary should makethe book accessible to students of biology from secondaryschool upward, it also contains many nuanced details andtitbits to spark the interests of practicing evolutionarybiologists (e.g. a discussion on the occasional paternaltransmission of mtDNA). Avise presents fascinatingdetails of the ecologies and life histories of the speciesconsidered. Together with the beautiful illustrations byTrudy Nicholson, these natural history details act toground the conceptual issues in the real world. Thereare also frequent asides to discuss the history of thesubject, from insightful accounts of the scientists whomade the initial discoveries, to stories of the gods thatinspired terms such as ‘parthenogenesis’ and ‘hermaph-rodism’.

Clonality is, however, somewhat constrained in its focuson vertebrates. Many of the patterns and processesdescribed in Part II for naturally clonal vertebrates arealso observed in plants and invertebrates [3,4], a fact notstrongly conveyed by the author. My own introduction toclonal organisms began with a parthenogeneticvertebrate and I initially found it quite odd and compli-cating to learn that it was a polyploid hybrid. It wastherefore thrilling to discover, as I read more widely, thatthis genetic association, as well as some eco-geographicpatterns, was also to be found in invertebrates and plants.This was akin to visiting another planet and seeing thesame weird things happening. The parallels between