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Propagule size and structure, life history, and environmental conditions affect establishment success of an invasive species.

ABSTRACT: Population dynamics of species that are recently introduced into a new area, e.g., invasive species and species of conservation concern that are translocated to support global populations, are likely to be dominated by short-term, transient effects. Wild pigs (Sus scrofa, or wild boar) are pulsed-resource consumers of mast nuts that are commonly introduced into new areas. We used vital rate data (i.e., survival and fecundity) for wild pigs in Germany under varying forage conditions to simulate transient population dynamics in the 10-years following introduction into a new environment. In a low forage environment (i.e., conditions similar to their native range), simulated wild pig populations maintained a stable population size with low probability of establishment, while in environments with better quality forage (i.e., conditions similar to parts of their invasive range), high juvenile fecundity and survival facilitated rapid population growth and establishment probability was high. We identified a strategy for simulating population dynamics of species whose reproduction and survival depend on environmental conditions that fluctuate and for predicting establishment success of species introduced into a new environment. Our approach can also be useful in projecting near-term transient population dynamics for many conservation and management applications.

SUBMITTER: Tabak MA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6037743 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Propagule size and structure, life history, and environmental conditions affect establishment success of an invasive species.

Tabak Michael A MA Webb Colleen T CT Miller Ryan S RS

Scientific reports 20180709 1

Population dynamics of species that are recently introduced into a new area, e.g., invasive species and species of conservation concern that are translocated to support global populations, are likely to be dominated by short-term, transient effects. Wild pigs (Sus scrofa, or wild boar) are pulsed-resource consumers of mast nuts that are commonly introduced into new areas. We used vital rate data (i.e., survival and fecundity) for wild pigs in Germany under varying forage conditions to simulate t ...[more]

PMID: 29985418

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Project description:Predicting whether individuals will colonize a novel habitat is of fundamental ecological interest and is crucial to conservation efforts. A consistently supported predictor of colonization success is the number of individuals introduced, also called propagule pressure. Propagule pressure increases with the number of introductions and the number of individuals per introduction (the size of the introduction), but it is unresolved which process is a stronger driver of colonization success. Furthermore, their relative importance may depend upon the environment, with multiple introductions potentially enhancing colonization of fluctuating environments. To evaluate the relative importance of the number and size of introductions and its dependence upon environmental variability, we paired demographic simulations with a microcosm experiment. Using Tribolium flour beetles as a model system, we introduced a fixed number of individuals into replicated novel habitats of stable or fluctuating quality, varying the number of introductions through time and size of each introduction. We evaluated establishment probability and the size of extant populations through seven generations. We found that establishment probability generally increased with more, smaller introductions, but was not affected by biologically realistic fluctuations in environmental quality. Population size was not significantly affected by environmental variability in the simulations, but populations in the microcosms grew larger in a stable environment, especially with more introduction events. In general, the microcosm experiment yielded higher establishment probability and larger populations than the demographic simulations. We suggest that genetic mechanisms likely underlie these differences and thus deserve more attention in efforts to parse propagule pressure. Our results highlight the importance of preventing further introductions of undesirable species to invaded sites and suggest conservation efforts should focus on increasing the number of introductions or reintroductions of desirable species rather than increasing the size of those introduction events into harsh environments.

Dataset Information

Propagule size and structure, life history, and environmental conditions affect establishment success of an invasive species.

Publications

Propagule size and structure, life history, and environmental conditions affect establishment success of an invasive species.

Similar Datasets

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