Dataset Information

Effect of the internet commerce on dispersal modes of invasive alien species.

ABSTRACT: The spread of invasive alien plants has considerable environmental and economic consequences, and is one of the most challenging ecological problems. The spread of invasive alien plant species depends largely on long-distance dispersal, which is typically linked with human activity. The increasing domination of the internet will have impacts upon almost all components of our lives, including potential consequences for the spread of invasive species. To determine whether the rise of Internet commerce has any consequences for the spread of invasive alien plant species, we studied the sale of thirteen of some of the most harmful Europe invasive alien plant species sold as decorative plants from twenty-eight large, well known gardening shops in Poland that sold both via the Internet and through traditional customer sales. We also analyzed temporal changes in the number of invasive plants sold in the largest Polish internet auction portal. When sold through the Internet invasive alien plant species were transported considerably longer distances than for traditional sales. For internet sales, seeds of invasive alien plant species were transported further than were live plants saplings; this was not the case for traditional sales. Also, with e-commerce the shape of distance distribution were flattened with low skewness comparing with traditional sale where the distributions were peaked and right-skewed. Thus, e-commerce created novel modes of long-distance dispersal, while traditional sale resembled more natural dispersal modes. Moreover, analysis of sale in the biggest Polish internet auction portal showed that the number of alien specimens sold via the internet has increased markedly over recent years. Therefore internet commerce is likely to increase the rate at which ecological communities become homogenized and increase spread of invasive species by increasing the rate of long distance dispersal.

SUBMITTER: Lenda M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4059692 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Effect of the internet commerce on dispersal modes of invasive alien species.

Lenda Magdalena M Skórka Piotr P Skórka Piotr P Knops Johannes M H JM Moroń Dawid D Sutherland William J WJ Kuszewska Karolina K Woyciechowski Michał M

PloS one 20140616 6

The spread of invasive alien plants has considerable environmental and economic consequences, and is one of the most challenging ecological problems. The spread of invasive alien plant species depends largely on long-distance dispersal, which is typically linked with human activity. The increasing domination of the internet will have impacts upon almost all components of our lives, including potential consequences for the spread of invasive species. To determine whether the rise of Internet comm ...[more]

PMID: 24932498

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Project description:Alien species often flourish and become invasive in urban ecosystems. How and why invaders succeed in urban systems is an important, yet poorly understood, question. We investigate whether the success of urban invaders is related to changes in species traits that enhance invasive potential. We also explore whether a trophic mechanism helps explain the success of invaders in urban systems. We use the guppy Poecilia reticulata, a globally distributed alien species that has invaded both urban and non-urban systems, as our model. We first characterize the effect of urbanization on streams where guppies are present. We measure guppy invasion success using their population density and size-frequency. Then we assess how traits that are related to the potential of guppies to invade (life history and condition) respond to urbanization. Next, we explore how urbanization affects the availability of food for guppies and their diets. We also test if the presence of other fish species grants biological resistance to invasion by dampening guppy invasive potential. We find that urban streams have high concentrations of ammonium and faecal coliforms, indicating contamination from sewage. On average, guppy populations from urban streams have 26× higher density and larger body sizes than non-urban populations. Urban guppies are in better condition and have on average five more offspring than non-urban guppies. Urbanization increases the availability and consumption of highly nutritious food (chironomid larvae) by guppies. We find a positive relationship between the consumption of chironomids and both fecundity and condition. The presence of other fish species in urban streams often has a negative but small effect on guppy traits and density. Our data suggest a relaxation of trade-offs that shape life-history traits which is related to increased food resources in urban streams. These indicate that urbanization enhances the invasive potential of guppies through a trophic mechanism that simultaneously increases reproduction and somatic investment. Such mechanism is likely widespread because chironomids are often highly abundant in urban systems. Thus, not only guppies but also other invasive species can take advantage of such a resource to invest in traits that enhance invasion success.

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Effect of the internet commerce on dispersal modes of invasive alien species.

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Effect of the internet commerce on dispersal modes of invasive alien species.

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