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1,074 results for “invasive species”
Trait-similarity and trait-hierarchy jointly determine fine-scale spatial associations of resident and invasive ant species
<p>Interspecific competition, a dominant process structuring ecological communities, is influenced by species' phenotypic differences. Limiting similarity theory holds that species with similar traits should compete intensely ("trait-similarity"). In contrast, competing theories including modern coexistence theory emphasize that species with traits conferring competitive advantages should outcompete others ("trait-hierarchy"). Either or both of these mechanisms may drive competitive exclusion, but their relative importance and interacting effects are rarely studied. Here, we explore empirically whether trait-similarity and trait-hierarchy can explain fine-scale spatial associations observed between invasive and native ant species in a tropical assemblage. We find that pairwise co-occurrences between the invasive red imported fire ant Solenopsis invicta and 28 other species across relatively homogenous grasslands can be explained largely by an interaction of trait-similarity and trait-hierarchy in a single morphological trait, relative pronotum width. Specifically, higher trait-hierarchy values are associated with negative co-occurrences; however, these effects are counteracted when species are increasingly dissimilar in their trait ranges. These findings are consistent with the notion that limiting similarity and competitive hierarchies are interactive rather than discrete mechanisms driving competitive exclusion.</p>
Hull fouling marine invasive species pose a very low, but plausible, risk of introduction to East Antarctica in climate change scenarios
<p><strong>Aims: </strong>To identify potential hull fouling marine invasive species that could survive in East Antarctica presently and in the future.</p> <p><strong>Location: </strong>Australia's Antarctic continental stations: Davis, Mawson and Casey, East Antarctica; and subantarctic islands: Macquarie Island and Heard and McDonald Islands.</p> <p><strong>Methods: </strong>Our study uses a novel machine-learning algorithm to predict which currently known hull fouling MIS could survive in shallow benthic ecosystems adjacent to Australian Antarctic research stations and subantarctic islands, where ship traffic is present. We used gradient boosted machine learning (XGBoost) with four important environmental variables (sea surface temperature, salinity, nitrate and pH) to develop models of suitable environments for each potentially invasive species. We then used these models to determine if any Australia's three Antarctic research stations and two subantarctic islands could be environmentally suitable for MIS now and under two future climate scenarios.</p> <p><strong>Results: </strong>Most of the species were predicted to be unable to survive at any locations between now and the end of the century, however, four species were identified as potential current threats, and five as threats under future climate change. <em>Asterias amurensis</em> was identified as a potential threat to all locations.</p> <p><strong>Main conclusions: </strong>This study suggests that the risk are very low, but plausible, that known hull fouling species could survive in the shallow benthic habitats near Australia's East Antarctica locations and suggest a precautionary approach is needed by way of surveillance and monitoring in this region, particularly if propagule pressure increases. Whilst some species could survive as adults in the region, their ability to reach these locations and undergo successful reproduction is considered unlikely based on current knowledge.</p>
Data from: Species diversity, invasion, and alternative community states in sequentially assembled communities
The relationship between resident species diversity and invasion is generally negative in experimental studies, but takes various forms in observational studies of natural communities. We hypothesized that stochastic species colonization, which applies to natural communities but not experimental communities generally assembled through simultaneous species introduction, may lead to non-negative diversity-invasion relationships via incurring priority effects. To test this hypothesis, we manipulated both resident species diversity and colonization history in sequentially assembled communities of bacterivorous protist species. We found that despite a significant effect of assembly history on invader abundance, invader abundance declined with diversity. This result was largely driven by positive selection effects associated with the dominant influence of an invasion-resistant species, which shared the most similar resource use pattern with the invader, and by the overall weak priority effects observed for the resident communities. Increasing species diversity, however, significantly strengthened priority effects, providing the first experimental support for the idea that larger species pools promote alternative community states. We suggest that elucidating mechanisms regulating the strength of priority effects may help understand variation in diversity-invasion relationships among natural communities.
Data from: An examination of the accuracy of a sequential PCR and sequencing test used to detect the incursion of an invasive species: the case of the red fox in Tasmania
1. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) diagnostic tests are increasingly applied to the identification of wildlife. Yet rigorous verification is rare and the estimation of test accuracy (the probability that true positive and true negative samples are correctly identified – test sensitivity and specificity, respectively), particularly in combination with sequencing, is uncommon. This is important because PCR-based tests are prone to contamination in sampling and the laboratory. 2. Here, we use an experimental case–control approach to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of a sequential PCR-based wildlife detection test used to identify incursions of red foxes into Tasmania from predator faeces (scats). 3. Our results show that the sensitivity of the fox test is high (~94%) for the PCR-based test on its own, but this decreases to ~84% when combined with the DNA sequencing step. In contrast, the specificity increases from ~96% in the PCR only test to ~99.6% after inclusion of the DNA sequencing step. 4. The intense public scrutiny of the fox eradication program in Tasmania, has undoubtedly influenced the application of a sequential PCR test that maximises specificity at the expense of sensitivity and so increases the risk that scats containing fox DNA would not be detected. This could lead to the establishment of foxes in Tasmania as a consequence. 5. Synthesis and applications. Importantly, the estimation of the sensitivity and specificity of sequential tests enables decisions about the risk associated with mistaken identification (i.e. false negatives vs false positives) to be quantified for decision makers. The cost of false negative errors should be balanced against the costs of false positive errors, which could include the expenditure incurred in the application of unnecessary management actions were foxes not in fact present. Understanding the risks and costs associated with both false negative and false positive errors is therefore a key component to the decision making process for the management of the Tasmanian fox incursion.
Data from:Corruption, development and governance indicators predict invasive species risk from trade
Invasive species have an enormous global impact, with international trade being the leading pathway for their introduction. Current multinational trade deals under negotiation will dramatically change trading partnerships and pathways. These changes have considerable potential to influence biological invasions and global biodiversity. Using a database of 47 328 interceptions spanning 10 years, we demonstrate how development and governance socio-economic indicators of trading partners can predict exotic species interceptions. For import pathways associated with vegetable material, a significantly higher risk of exotic species interceptions was associated with countries that are poorly regulated, have more forest cover and have surprisingly low corruption. Corruption and indicators such as political stability or adherence to rule of law were important in vehicle or timber import pathways. These results will be of considerable value to policy makers, primarily by shifting quarantine procedures to focus on countries of high risk based on their socio-economic status. Further, using New Zealand as an example, we demonstrate how a ninefold reduction in incursions could be achieved if socio-economic indicators were used to select trade partners. International trade deals that ignore governance and development indicators may facilitate introductions and biodiversity loss. Development and governance within countries clearly have biodiversity implications beyond borders.
Data from: Consequences of plant invasions on compartmentalization and species' roles in plant–pollinator networks
Compartmentalization—the organization of ecological interaction networks into subsets of species that do not interact with other subsets (true compartments) or interact more frequently among themselves than with other species (modules)—has been identified as a key property for the functioning, stability and evolution of ecological communities. Invasions by entomophilous invasive plants may profoundly alter the way interaction networks are compartmentalized. We analysed a comprehensive dataset of 40 paired plant–pollinator networks (invaded versus uninvaded) to test this hypothesis. We show that invasive plants have higher generalization levels with respect to their pollinators than natives. The consequences for network topology are that—rather than displacing native species from the network—plant invaders attracting pollinators into invaded modules tend to play new important topological roles (i.e. network hubs, module hubs and connectors) and cause role shifts in native species, creating larger modules that are more connected among each other. While the number of true compartments was lower in invaded compared with uninvaded networks, the effect of invasion on modularity was contingent on the study system. Interestingly, the generalization level of the invasive plants partially explains this pattern, with more generalized invaders contributing to a lower modularity. Our findings indicate that the altered interaction structure of invaded networks makes them more robust against simulated random secondary species extinctions, but more vulnerable when the typically highly connected invasive plants go extinct first. The consequences and pathways by which biological invasions alter the interaction structure of plant–pollinator communities highlighted in this study may have important dynamical and functional implications, for example, by influencing multi-species reciprocal selection regimes and coevolutionary processes.
Data from: Suitability of Laurentian Great Lakes for invasive species based on global species distribution models and local habitat
Efficient management and prevention of species invasions requires accurate prediction of where species of concern can arrive and persist. Species distribution models provide one way to identify potentially suitable habitat by developing the relationship between climate variables and species occurrence data. However, these models when applied to freshwater invasions are complicated by two factors. The first is that the range expansions that typically occur as part of the invasion process violate standard species distribution model assumptions of data stationarity. Second, predicting potential range of freshwater aquatic species is complicated by the reliance on terrestrial climate measurements to develop occurrence relationships for species that occur in aquatic environments. To overcome these obstacles, we combined a recently developed algorithm for species distribution modeling—range bagging—with newly available aquatic habitat-specific information from the North American Great Lakes region to predict suitable habitat for three potential invasive species: golden mussel, killer shrimp, and northern snakehead. Range bagging may more accurately predict relative suitability than other methods because it focuses on the limits of the species environmental tolerances rather than central tendency or "typical" cases. Overlaying the species distribution model output with aquatic habitat-specific data then allowed for more specific predictions of areas with high suitability. Our results indicate there is suitable habitat for northern snakehead in the Great Lakes, particularly shallow coastal habitats in the lower four Great Lakes where literature suggests they will favor areas of wetland and submerged aquatic vegetation. These coastal areas also offer the highest suitability for golden mussel, but our models suggest they are marginal habitats. Globally, the Great Lakes provide the closest match to the currently invaded range of killer shrimp, but they appear to pose an intermediate risk to the region. Range bagging provided reliable predictions when assessed either by a standard test set or by tests for spatial transferability, with golden mussel being the most difficult to accurately predict. Our approach illustrates the strength of combining multiple sources of data, while reiterating the need for increased measurement of freshwater habitat at high spatial resolutions to improve the ability to predict potential invasive species.
Data from: Genome-wide gene-associated microsatellite markers for the model invasive ascidian, Ciona intestinalis species complex
The vase tunicate, Ciona intestinalis species complex, has become a good model for ecological and evolutionary studies, especially those focusing on microevolution associated with rapidly changing environments. However, genome-wide genetic markers are still lacking. Here we characterized a large set of genome-wide gene-associated microsatellite markers for C. intestinalis spA (= C. robusta). Bioinformatic analysis identified 4654 microsatellites from expressed sequence tags (ESTs), 2126 of which successfully assigned to chromosomes were selected for further analysis. Based on the distribution evenness on chromosomes, function annotation and suitability for primer design, we chose 545 candidate microsatellites for further characterization. After amplification validation and variation assessment, 218 loci were polymorphic in at least one of the two populations collected from the coast of Arenys de Mar, Spain (N = 24 - 48) and Cape Town, South Africa (N = 24 - 33). The number of alleles, observed heterozygosity and expected heterozygosity ranged from two to 11, 0 to 0.833 and 0.021 to 0.818, and from two to 10, 0 to 0.879 and 0.031 to 0.845 for the Spanish and African populations, respectively. When all microsatellites were tested for cross-species utility, only 60 loci (25.8%) could be successfully amplified and all loci were polymorphic in C. intestinalis spB. A high level of genome-wide polymorphism is likely responsible for the low transferability. The large set of microsatellite markers characterized here is expected to provide a useful genome-wide resource for ecological and evolutionary studies using C. intestinalis as a model.
Data from: Species richness and interacting factors control invasibility of a marine community
Anthropogenic vectors have moved marine species around the world leading to increased invasions and expanded species' ranges. The biotic resistance hypothesis of Elton (in The ecology of invasions by animals and plants, 1958) predicts that more diverse communities should have greater resistance to invasions, but experiments have been equivocal. We hypothesized that species richness interacts with other factors to determine experimental outcomes. We manipulated species richness, species composition (native and introduced) and availability of bare space in invertebrate assemblages in a marina in Monterey, CA. Increased species richness significantly interacted with both initial cover of native species and of all organisms to collectively decrease recruitment. Although native species decreased recruitment, introduced species had a similar effect, and we concluded that biotic resistance is conferred by total species richness. We suggest that contradictory conclusions in previous studies about the role of diversity in regulating invasions reflect uncontrolled variables in those experiments that modified the effect of species richness. Our results suggest that patches of low diversity and abundance may facilitate invasions, and that such patches, once colonized by non-indigenous species, can resist both native and non-indigenous species recruitment.
Data from: Tracking the origins of fly invasions; using mitochondrial haplotype diversity to identify potential source populations in two genetically intertwined fruit fly species (Bactrocera carambolae and Bactrocera dorsalis [Diptera: Tephritidae])
Bactrocera carambolae Drew and Hancock and B. dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae) are important pests of many fruits. These flies have been spread across the world through global travel and trade, and new areas are are at risk of invasion. Whenever new invasive populations are discovered, quick and accurate identification is needed to mitigate the damage they can cause. Determining invasive pathways can prevent further spread of pests as well as subsequent reinvasions through the same pathway. Molecular markers can be used for both species identification and pathway analysis. We analyzed 1601 individuals from 18 populations using 765 base pairs of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene to infer the haplotype diversity and population structure within these flies from across their native and invasive ranges. We analyzed these samples by either grouping by species or geographic populations due to the genetic similarity in the mitochondrial genome. We found no genetic structure between B. dorsalis and B. carambolae and our findings suggest recent and most likely ongoing, genetic exchange between these two species in the wild. Hyper-diverse mitochondrial genetic diversity in the native range suggests large population sizes and relatively high mutation rates. Only 52% of the haplotypes found in the trap captures from California are shared with haplotypes from flies found in our global survey, indicating significant genetic diversity in the native range that is missing from our samples. However, these results provide a foundation for the accurate determination of the provenance of invasive populations around the world.
Data from: A test for a cost of opportunism in invasive species in the Commelinaceae
Many invasive species can respond opportunistically to favorable growing conditions. In a previous work, we found that invasive species in the family Commelinaceae were more opportunistic than their noninvasive congeners and could therefore outperform noninvasive relatives in an environment with abundant resources and no competition. Contrary to the expectation that superior performance under favorable conditions comes at the cost of reduced performance under stressful conditions, invasive species did not perform more poorly relative to noninvasive congeners under any conditions we examined. Here we expand our search for potential costs of opportunism in invasive species to additional environmental conditions in which invasive taxa have been shown or predicted to perform poorly. We grew four invasive and four noninvasive species in environments consisting of all possible combinations of high and low soil resources and presence and absence of clipping (removal of aboveground biomass). We also fed leaves of each species to a generalist herbivore to assess resistance to herbivory. We found that the advantage of invasive species is reduced but not eliminated by low soil resources and clipping. At low soil resources, invasive species produced softer leaves than noninvasive species and might therefore be less resistant to generalist herbivory than noninvasive species, although a direct comparison of resistance in a no-choice bioassay revealed no difference. The invasive species outperformed noninvasive species only under the most favorable conditions, and the noninvasive species did not outperform the invasive species in any environment.
Data from: No evidence that plant-soil feedback effects of native and invasive plant species under greenhouse conditions are reflected in the field
Plant–soil feedback (PSF) may affect above-ground higher trophic levels in glasshouse experiments, but evidence from field studies on the relevance of these multitrophic interactions for plant performance is lacking. Therefore, we examined whether PSF effects of several native and invasive plant species occur also in the field and influence plant damage by above-ground herbivores. Root zone soil from an abandoned urban field was used as inocula for the PSF experiment. First, we grew eight urban grassland plant species (five natives and three invasive species) separately in a glasshouse, with soil biota communities conditioned by the respective species itself ('home soil') or by a mixture of all other species ('foreign soil'). After 13 weeks, one cohort of the plants was placed on an urban field in Berlin to assess damage by naturally colonizing herbivores, while another cohort of the plants stayed in the glasshouse. We observed that the extent of the PSF effects differed between the field and glasshouse cohorts of plants. While we found positive PSF responses for five of the eight plant species in the glasshouse, we found no PSF effects in the field. Further, there was no trend that invasive or native species differed in the direction or extent of PSF responses. Concerning the leaf damage by herbivores of the field plants, we found no evidence that the soil history (home vs. foreign soil) affected the effects of above-ground herbivores on the plants. Synthesis. We conclude that PSF effects are more likely to be found under glasshouse conditions. In the field, PSFs seem to play a minor role for the selected urban grassland species. More generally, our study highlights the need to focus on PSFs under natural conditions and in natural communities (including higher trophic levels), which is often overlooked in PSF research.
Data from: Invasive plants have scale-dependent effects on diversity by altering species-area relationships
Although invasive plant species often reduce diversity, they rarely cause plant extinctions. We surveyed paired invaded and uninvaded plant communities from three biomes. We reconcile the discrepancy in diversity loss from invaders by showing that invaded communities have lower local richness but steeper species accumulation with area than that of uninvaded communities, leading to proportionately fewer species loss at broader spatial scales. We show that invaders drive scale-dependent biodiversity loss through strong neutral sampling effects on the number of individuals in a community. We also show that nonneutral species extirpations are due to a proportionately larger effect of invaders on common species, suggesting that rare species are buffered against extinction. Our study provides a synthetic perspective on the threat of invasions to biodiversity loss across spatial scales.
Rattus population genomics across the Haida Gwaii archipelago provides a framework for guiding invasive species management
<p><a name="_Hlk13067419"></a><a name="_Hlk16009716">Invasive species have led to precipitous declines in biodiversity, especially in island systems. Brown (<i>Rattus norvegicus</i>) and black rats (<i>R. rattus</i>) are among the most invasive animals on the planet, with eradication being the primary tool for established island populations. The need for increased research for defining eradication units and monitoring outcomes has been highlighted as a means to maximize success. Haida Gwaii is an archipelago ~100 km off the northern coast of British Columbia, Canada that hosts globally significant breeding populations of seabirds that are at risk due to invasive rats. Here, we paired sampling of brown (n=287) and black (n=291) rats across the Haida Gwaii archipelago (British Columbia, Canada) with genotyping-by-sequencing (10,770-27,686 SNPs) to investigate patterns of population connectivity and infer levels/direction of gene flow among invasive rat populations in Haida Gwaii. We reconstructed three regional clusters for both species (north, central, south), with proximate populations within regions being largely more related than those that were more distant, consistent with predictions from island biogeography theory. Population assignment of recently detected individuals post-eradication on Faraday, Murchison, and the Bischof Islands revealed all were re-invaders from Lyell Island, rather than being on-island survivors. Based on these results, we identified six eradication units constituting single or clusters of islands that would limit the potential for re-invasion, some of which will need to be combined with biosecurity measures. Overall, our results highlight the importance of targeted research prior to conducting eradications and demonstrates a framework for applying population genomics for guiding invasive species management in island systems.</a></p>
FIGURE 3 in On the evolution of the species complex Pachycondyla chinensis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae), including the origin of its invasive form and description of a new species
FIGURE 3. Bivariate plots of PW by HW measurements (mm) of P. nakasujii and P. chinensis.
FIGURE 7 in A new species of invasive gall wasp (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae: Tetrastichinae) on blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus) in California
FIGURE 7. Selitrichodes globulus Ƥ. Habitus.
FIGURE 1 in How complex is the Naineris setosa species complex? First integrative study of a presumed cosmopolitan and invasive annelid (Sedentaria: Orbiniidae)
FIGURE 1. Distribution of the Naineris species described in this study.
Supplementary material 2 from: Mayer K, Heger T, Kühn I, Nehring S, Gaertner M (2023) Germany's first Action plan on the pathways of invasive alien species to prevent their unintentional introduction and spread. NeoBiota 89: 209-227. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.89.106323
List of some countries or regions that have already implemented action plans or similar documents
Supplementary material 1 from: Mayer K, Heger T, Kühn I, Nehring S, Gaertner M (2023) Germany's first Action plan on the pathways of invasive alien species to prevent their unintentional introduction and spread. NeoBiota 89: 209-227. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.89.106323
19 sectors identified and assigned to the 14 prioritised pathways
IPBES Invasive Alien Species Assessment: Chapter 6. Figures, tables and captions
<p>Figures, tables and caption from Chapter 6: Governance and policy options for the prevention and control of biological invasions. In: Thematic Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species and their Control of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.</p>
ScienceDex guides
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These curated guides explain access requirements, typical timelines, costs, and reuse considerations for widely used research datasets.
Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.