Improving science-based invasive species management with physiological knowledge, concepts, and tools

Abstract

Biological invasions are a prominent factor contributing to global biodiversity loss. As a result, managing invasive species is a priority for many conservation scientists and natural resource managers. Invasive species management requires a multidisciplinary approach and there is increasing recognition that physiology can be used to inform conservation efforts because physiological processes underlie an individual's response to its environment. For example, physiological concepts and tools can be used to assess the impacts of invasive animals on their new ecosystems, to predict which animal species are likely to become invasive, to prevent the introduction of nonnative animals, and to control incipient or established invasions. To evaluate whether physiology is integrated within invasion science, the journal Biological Invasions was surveyed for a quantitative literature review. To determine how physiology is used to inform invasion science and which subdisciplines of physiology are particularly relevant to invasive animal management, the broader invasion literature was also reviewed to identify examples where physiology has contributed to studying and managing invasive animals. Only 6 % of articles published in Biological Invasions incorporated physiological knowledge or tools, mostly for the purposes of identifying traits associated with species invasiveness (i.e. prediction). However, the broader literature indicated that successful invasive species research and management can be supported by fundamental and applied physiological research for assessing, predicting, preventing, and controlling invasive animals. Development of new techniques and increased availability of equipment for remote or rapid monitoring of physiology in the field will increase opportunities for integrating physiology within invasion science.

Ecological relevance of biomarkers in monitoring studies of macro-invertebrates and fish in Mediterranean rivers

“…Besides refining current tolerance classifications (e.g. Bonada et al, 2004;Maceda-Veiga and de Sostoa, 2011), these studies could help identify species according to their vulnerability to stressors and/ or invasive traits (Gallagher et al, 2015;Lennox et al, 2015). For example, Faria et al (2010b) found that transplanted native naiads were less vulnerable to mercury pollution than two exotic freshwater bivalve species (D. polymorpha and Corbicula fluminea).…”

Toward “Rules” for Studying Biological Invasions

“…We sought to identify novel approaches to the analysis of invasive species’ evolutionary adaptation, range expansion, and ecological impacts through the explicit recognition of a fundamental link between an organism's physiology and its environment and how this relationship varies through space and time (Chown , Lennox et al. ). Ultimately, by continuing to work with the participants post‐workshop, our goal is to advance a coherent physiological ecology theory that can integrate across biological, spatial, and temporal scales of invasions to inform future research approaches.…”

“…Although these insights have previously received some attention in invasion science (Lennox et al. ), they have not yet coalesced into a coherent research agenda within the field. The allied approach of conservation physiology (Cooke et al.…”

“…) touches on aspects of invasion biology but (as yet) has not fully addressed the insights that a physiological approach to invasion science can offer (Lennox et al. ).…”

Selecting for invasive tendencies: the evolution of morphological, physiological, and movement behaviour traits associated with dispersal

“…Phenotypic variation in dispersal-related traits is strongly associated with the range expansion of invasive species (Chuang & Peterson 2016), therefore understanding contemporary evolution dynamics of morphological, physiological, and behavioural traits is crucial for effective distribution modelling (Travis & Dytham 2002;Bocedi & Travis 2016) and invasive species management (Lennox et al 2015). Many invasive species (including amphibians, birds, fish, and insects) have been found to exhibit certain traits that assist in their dispersal ability, and rapid phenotypic change occurs at expanding range edges (Llewelyn et al 2010;Berthouly-Salazar et al 2012;Laparie et al 2013;Myles-Gonzalez et al 2015;Davenport & Lowe 2016).…”