Dataset Information

Spread of a model invasive alien species, the harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis in Britain and Ireland.

ABSTRACT: Invasive alien species are widely recognized as one of the main threats to global biodiversity. Rapid flow of information on the occurrence of invasive alien species is critical to underpin effective action. Citizen science, i.e. the involvement of volunteers in science, provides an opportunity to improve the information available on invasive alien species. Here we describe the dataset created via a citizen science approach to track the spread of a well-studied invasive alien species, the harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in Britain and Ireland. This dataset comprises 48?510 verified and validated spatio-temporal records of the occurrence of H. axyridis in Britain and Ireland, from first arrival in 2003, to the end of 2016. A clear and rapid spread of the species within Britain and Ireland is evident. A major reuse value of the dataset is in modelling the spread of an invasive species and applying this to other potential invasive alien species in order to predict and prevent their further spread.

SUBMITTER: Brown PMJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6198752 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Spread of a model invasive alien species, the harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis in Britain and Ireland.

Brown P M J PMJ Roy D B DB Harrower C C Dean H J HJ Rorke S L SL Roy H E HE

Scientific data 20181023

Invasive alien species are widely recognized as one of the main threats to global biodiversity. Rapid flow of information on the occurrence of invasive alien species is critical to underpin effective action. Citizen science, i.e. the involvement of volunteers in science, provides an opportunity to improve the information available on invasive alien species. Here we describe the dataset created via a citizen science approach to track the spread of a well-studied invasive alien species, the harleq ...[more]

PMID: 30351305

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Project description:BACKGROUND: Cannibalism is widespread in both vertebrates and invertebrates but its extent is variable between and within species. Cannibalism depends on population density and nutritional conditions, and could be beneficial during colonisation of new environments. Empirical studies are needed to determine whether this trait might facilitate invasion of a new area in natural systems. We investigated whether the propensity for cannibalism in H. axyridis differs both between native and invasive populations and between invasive populations from the core and from the front of the invasive area in Western Europe. We also compared the propensity for cannibalism of these natural populations with that of laboratory-reared biocontrol populations. We measured the cannibalism rates of eggs by first instar larvae and adult females at two different individual densities of ladybirds from three types of population (invasive, native and biocontrol), in laboratory-controlled conditions. RESULTS: Cannibalism was significantly greater in larvae from invasive populations compared to native or biocontrol populations, but there was no difference in cannibalism rates between populations from the core or front of the invaded range. Cannibalism was significantly lower in larvae from biocontrol populations compared to wild (invasive and native) populations. No differences in cannibalism rates of adult females were found between any populations. While high population density significantly increased cannibalism in both larvae and adults, the norm of reaction of cannibalism to individual density did not change significantly during the invasion and/or laboratory rearing processes. CONCLUSION: This study is the first to provide evidence for a higher propensity for cannibalism in invasive populations compared to native ones. Our experiments also shed light on the difference in cannibalism evolution with respect to life stages. However, we are still at an early stage in understanding the underlying mechanisms and several different research perspectives are needed to determine whether the higher propensity for cannibalism is a general feature of the invasion process.

Project description:BackgroundThe harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), native to Asia, has been introduced to other major continents where it has caused serious negative impacts on local biodiversity. Though notable advances to understand its invasion success have been made during the past decade, especially with then newer molecular tools, the conclusions reached remain to be confirmed with more advanced genomic analyses and especially using more samples from larger geographical regions across the native range. Furthermore, although H. axyridis is one of the best studied invasive insect species with respect to life history traits (often comparing invasive and native populations), the traits responsible for its colonization success in non-native areas warrant more research.ResultsOur analyses of genome-wide nuclear population structure indicated that an eastern Chinese population could be the source of all non-native populations and revealed several putatively adaptive candidate genomic loci involved in body color variation, visual perception, and hemolymph synthesis. Our estimates of evolutionary history indicate (1) asymmetric migration with varying population sizes across its native and non-native range, (2) a recent admixture between eastern Chinese and American populations in Europe, (3) signatures of a large progressive, historical bottleneck in the common ancestors of both populations and smaller effective sizes of the non-native population, and (4) the southwest origin and subsequent dispersal routes within its native range in China. In addition, we found that while two mitochondrial haplotypes-Hap1 and Hap2 were dominant in the native range, Hap1 was the only dominant haplotype in the non-native range. Our laboratory observations in both China and USA found statistical yet slight differences between Hap1 and Hap2 in some of life history traits.ConclusionsOur study on H. axyridis provides new insights into its invasion processes into other major continents from its native Asian range, reconstructs a geographic range evolution across its native region China, and tentatively suggests that its invasiveness may differ between mitochondrial haplotypes.

Dataset Information

Spread of a model invasive alien species, the harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis in Britain and Ireland.

Publications

Spread of a model invasive alien species, the harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis in Britain and Ireland.

Similar Datasets

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