Dataset Information

The Human Release Hypothesis for biological invasions: human activity as a determinant of the abundance of invasive plant species.

ABSTRACT: Research on biological invasions has increased rapidly over the past 30 years, generating numerous explanations of how species become invasive. While the mechanisms of invasive species establishment are well studied, the mechanisms driving abundance patterns (i.e. patterns of population density and population size) remain poorly understood. It is assumed that invasive species typically have higher abundances in their new environments than in their native ranges, and patterns of invasive species abundance differ between invaded regions. To explain differences in invasive species abundance, we propose the Human Release Hypothesis. In parallel to the established Enemy Release Hypothesis, this hypothesis states that the differences in abundance of invasive species are found between regions because population expansion is reduced in some regions through continuous land management and associated cutting of the invasive species. The Human Release Hypothesis does not negate other important drivers of species invasions, but rather should be considered as a potentially important complementary mechanism. We illustrate the hypothesis via a case study on an invasive rose species, and hypothesize which locations globally may be most likely to support high abundances of invasive species. We propose that more extensive empirical work on the Human Release Hypothesis could be useful to test its general applicability.

SUBMITTER: Zimmermann H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4207246 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The Human Release Hypothesis for biological invasions: human activity as a determinant of the abundance of invasive plant species.

Zimmermann Heike H Brandt Patric P Fischer Joern J Welk Erik E von Wehrden Henrik H

F1000Research 20140514

Research on biological invasions has increased rapidly over the past 30 years, generating numerous explanations of how species become invasive. While the mechanisms of invasive species establishment are well studied, the mechanisms driving abundance patterns (i.e. patterns of population density and population size) remain poorly understood. It is assumed that invasive species typically have higher abundances in their new environments than in their native ranges, and patterns of invasive species ...[more]

PMID: 25352979

Similar Datasets

Project description:BACKGROUND: A challenge within the context of cryptic species is the delimitation of individual species within the complex. Statistical parsimony network analytics offers the opportunity to explore limits in situations where there are insufficient species-specific morphological characters to separate taxa. The results also enable us to explore the spread in taxa that have invaded globally. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using a 657 bp portion of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 from 352 unique haplotypes belonging to the Bemisia tabaci cryptic species complex, the analysis revealed 28 networks plus 7 unconnected individual haplotypes. Of the networks, 24 corresponded to the putative species identified using the rule set devised by Dinsdale et al. (2010). Only two species proposed in Dinsdale et al. (2010) departed substantially from the structure suggested by the analysis. The analysis of the two invasive members of the complex, Mediterranean (MED) and Middle East - Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1), showed that in both cases only a small number of haplotypes represent the majority that have spread beyond the home range; one MEAM1 and three MED haplotypes account for >80% of the GenBank records. Israel is a possible source of the globally invasive MEAM1 whereas MED has two possible sources. The first is the eastern Mediterranean which has invaded only the USA, primarily Florida and to a lesser extent California. The second are western Mediterranean haplotypes that have spread to the USA, Asia and South America. The structure for MED supports two home range distributions, a Sub-Saharan range and a Mediterranean range. The MEAM1 network supports the Middle East - Asia Minor region. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The network analyses show a high level of congruence with the species identified in a previous phylogenetic analysis. The analysis of the two globally invasive members of the complex support the view that global invasion often involve very small portions of the available genetic diversity.

Dataset Information

The Human Release Hypothesis for biological invasions: human activity as a determinant of the abundance of invasive plant species.

Publications

The Human Release Hypothesis for biological invasions: human activity as a determinant of the abundance of invasive plant species.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets