Nonnative African jewelfish are more fit but not bolder at the invasion front: a trait comparison across an Everglades range expansion

López, Diana; Jungman, Andrew Aaron; Rehage, Jennifer S.

doi:10.1007/s10530-012-0221-1

Cited by 34 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…Unless facing a strong challenge from native competitors, decreased need for aggression would then further reduce the utility of potentially risky agonistic behaviours at the invasion front. A side-effect of this distribution could provide additional advantages to the spreading species, priming it for interspecific competition while also improving the condition of individuals that actually expand the range, their capacity for reproductive investment and, ultimately, the rate of population growth (Burton et al 2010;Lopez et al 2012;Rebrina et al 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As the traits underlying invasion success may vary across the different stages of the invasion process (Holway and Suarez 1999;Kolar and Lodge 2001;Chapple et al 2012) as well as along the invasion pathway, a number of studies recorded plastic responses in behavioural, morphological, and lifehistory traits that accompany range expansion across many taxa (Phillips et al 2006Gutowsky and Fox 2011;Groen et al 2012;Lopez et al 2012 and references therein). However, it remains unclear whether this gradient arises due to the phenotypic or evolutionary trait responses/variability (Phillips et al 2006 and its effects on population dynamics and spatial distribution (Shine et al 2011) or, alternatively, represents a consequence of changing ecological and social contexts as the population expands (Bell and Sih 2007;Sih et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differences in aggressive behaviour along the expanding range of an invasive crayfish: an important component of invasion dynamics

2015

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Aggressive interactions are essential for resource distribution and population dynamics of many animal species. Aggression can also help invasive species to wrestle the resources from other species and invade new habitat. To examine the effects of intra-species aggression on range expansion, we compared aggression levels of signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) at the core and front of the invasion range in recently invaded regions of Croatia. More pronounced aggression was observed in core populations with high population densities, indicating potentially greater importance of highly aggressive behaviour in populations with higher competitive pressure. Despite better overall physical condition, individuals at the invasion front generally displayed lower levels of aggression and regularly lost interactions to individuals from the invasion core. Rather than providing a competitive advantage during range expansion, aggression may be more expressed in established populations, priming the individuals for future expansions while also driving the dispersal outward. The observed difference in aggression along the invasion pathway demonstrates that traits that help individuals to overcome challenges of their environment, such as competition against conspecifics, can drive the invasion dynamics of a successful invader in a new environment in terms of both niche competition and intrinsic expansion dynamics.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in aggressive behaviour along the expanding range of an invasive crayfish: an important component of invasion dynamics

2015

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“…African jewelfish is currently the most abundant nonnative fish in Everglades National Park (ENP; Kline et al, 2014;Langston et al, 2010;Lopez et al, 2012). The species is native to northern Africa, where it is common in rivers, floodplains and lakes, and known to occur in brackish coastal areas (Bailey, 1994;Lamboj, 2004;Loiselle, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Laboratory trials show that jewelfish has 100% survival when exposed to progressively increasing salinities as high as 50, and when exposed to acute salinities (i.e., abrupt salinity changes), it has 100% survival at salinities as high as 20 (Langston et al, 2010). In the Everglades, African jewelfish has been spreading from freshwater marshes into the mangrove zone (Lopez et al, 2012), and has been collected at maximum salinities of 4 (Rehage and Lorenz unpub. data), but the extent to which this species will become a dominant invader in coastal habitats remains unknown.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the mismatch between salinity tolerance and preference for an invasive fish: A case for incorporating behavioral data into niche modeling

Rehage

López

Anderson

et al. 2015

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

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a b s t r a c tMany estuarine species are euryhaline, tolerating a broad range of salinity conditions, such that data on their salinity tolerances can provide little information about a species' distribution and abundance. This is particularly true for nonnative species, known to be tolerant of a broad range of conditions. Instead, data on a species' abiotic or habitat preferences may improve prediction of a nonnative species' potential range, if introduced or if undergoing range expansion. At minimum, information about abiotic preferences may be telling of areas where the probability of nonnative occurrence or density may be higher, and if present, of areas that confer higher fitness. In this study, the salinity preference of the nonnative African jewelfish (Hemichromis letourneuxi), a recent and rapidly-expanding invader in the Florida Everglades, was quantified in laboratory trials. Despite the broad salinity tolerance of African jewelfish (up to 50), trials show a strong preference for freshwater conditions. When presented with a salinity gradient, over 50% of observations in timed videotaped trials were collected in the lowest salinity chamber (0.3), suggesting an affinity for low salinity, which was unaffected by the sex or body condition of study fish. Fish clearly avoided mid and full salinity conditions. Findings suggest that their distribution may be considerably more limited, and that the species may have higher invasion success in oligohaline habitats, than predicted based on their salinity tolerance. Results have important implications for nonnative species niche modeling, and argue for better integration of behavior along with physiological responses when examining species distributions in dynamic environments.

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“…Evidence for the evolution of dispersal ability and dispersalassociated traits at range edges has been demonstrated across diverse taxa (Chuang & Peterson 2016). Broadly, traits that may characterise dispersive individuals are a larger body size (Hill et al 1999;Gutowsky & Fox 2012;Kelehear et al 2012;Brown et al 2013;Laparie et al 2013), larger locomotor appendages relative to body size (Phillips et al 2006;Forsman et al 2010;Therry et al 2014b), a better body condition (Carol et al 2009;Lopez et al 2012;Rebrina et al 2015), boldness, aggressiveness, or low sociality (Fraser et al 2001;Duckworth 2006;Myles-Gonzalez et al 2015) compared with residents. Individuals that disperse have also been found to grow or mature faster (Bøhn et al 2004;Carol et al 2009;Phillips 2009), and exhibit a generally higher metabolic rate (MR) at rest (MylesGonzalez et al 2015) and during locomotion (Haag et al 2005;Niitepõld et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Arnold¹

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Dispersal, defined as any movement of an individual over various spatial scales that may contribute to gene flow, is an essential component of species ecology. It provides a mechanism that allows organisms to track optimal environmental conditions, regulate population density and interactions with conspecifics, and colonise new areas. Dispersal ability varies widely among individuals, and this variation has been strongly linked to a suite of physiological, morphological, and behavioural traits that together constitute a dispersal syndrome. The evolution of dispersal-related traits can occur not only by natural selection, but also by spatial sorting, where individuals that have traits facilitating their dispersal accumulate at range edges and are limited proximally to mating with other dispersive individuals. The relationships among traits constituting the dispersal syndrome, their dynamics with age, and evolution under spatial selection on dispersal have not been comprehensively explored. Furthermore, integrating evolution into the study of dispersal is imperative to understand the mechanisms that select or constrain the evolution of dispersalrelated traits. The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate a suite of physiological, morphological, and movement behaviour traits associated with the dispersal syndrome using a model system: laboratory dispersal apparatuses and Tribolium castaneum (red flour beetle).The research presented in this thesis focused on the following traits: body size, locomotor apparatus size, metabolic rate, spontaneous activity, and movement behaviour in a maze (including speed, path length, displacement distance, and behavioural intermittence). The first specific aim was to determine how the onset of sexual maturity and age throughout early life affects dispersal-related traits (Chapter 2). I found that prior to sexual maturity, T. castaneum have low metabolic rate and moved significantly less than mature ones. The low energy expenditure was attributable to reduced energy demand and inactivity, which was hypothesised to be a protective mechanism while the cuticle is undergoing sclerotisation.The second specific aim was to determine the relationships among metabolic rate, body size, relative leg length and different movement behaviour traits (Chapter 3). A dominant axis of movement ability described variation in several movement traits and was positively related to relative leg length, but unrelated to body size or metabolic rate. A mechanistic relationship ii between stride length and movement ability is therefore likely. The data suggested that the dispersal syndrome may be more strongly tied to morphology rather than physiology.The third specific aim was to investigate the dispersal rate of T. castaneum through threepatch dispersal apparatuses to determine which design would be most effective for artificial selection on the basis of dispersal success (Chapter 4). The distance and slope of the tubing that connected between patches significantly affected dispersal rate, therefo...

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Nonnative African jewelfish are more fit but not bolder at the invasion front: a trait comparison across an Everglades range expansion

Cited by 34 publications

References 90 publications

Differences in aggressive behaviour along the expanding range of an invasive crayfish: an important component of invasion dynamics

Differences in aggressive behaviour along the expanding range of an invasive crayfish: an important component of invasion dynamics

On the mismatch between salinity tolerance and preference for an invasive fish: A case for incorporating behavioral data into niche modeling

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

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