The AnthropoceneAcacia: A History

The countless introductions and rapid proliferation of some Australian Acacia species (‘wattles’) across different parts of the world has greatly accelerated in the Anthropocene. One of the four major impacts of the Anthropocene is that of burgeoning neobiota. This chapter traces the transfers of wattles, particularly from Australia to South Africa, and demonstrates how this genus has contributed to Anthropocene effects, altering or transforming natural ecosystems beyond their native habitats.Changing awareness of the impacts of invasive alien species has shifted ecological thinking, linking it more strongly with historical and globalizing processes of communication and intergovernmental collaborative structures. Using South Africa and Australia as case studies of broader phenomena, the chapter expands upon earlier work to offer a fresh historical perspective on the transfers of wattles from Australia to other parts of the world. The sciences of the Anthropocene illuminate paradigms and concepts that have affected the local and global changes in planetary ecosystems. Wattle transfers are a prime driver for counting invasion biology among the emerging sciences of the Anthropocene.Our approach draws on the history of ideas and the history of science, which complement the methods of other chapters in this book that investigate in detail many different and specific aspects of wattles. This chapter provides an overarching historical context for the book.