The effect of phenotypic heterogeneity on behaviours linked to invasive success

Abstract

Every year thousands of species are transported and introduced to novel ecosystems around the globe by human activities (Havel et al., 2015;Hulme, 2009;Pimentel et al., 2004). Despite being considered an issue for biodiversity and conservation, the majority of introduced, non-native species fail to establish, or establish without becoming invasive (Holway & Suarez, 1999;Milbau & Stout, 2008).Nonetheless, even a small proportion of successful invasive species can become problematic and lead to severe ecological and economic impacts (Carter et al., 2021;Clavero & Garcia-Berthou, 2005;Park, 2004). Given the difficulty of eradicating invasive species, it is critical that we can accurately identify which species and/or populations pose the greatest risk of becoming problematic invasive species (Holway & Suarez, 1999). While the economic and ecological costs of invasive species are unequivocal, current ability to forecast species' invasive propensity remains limited. Namely, our understanding of how population-level traits contribute to a species' invasive success has not been fully explored. In this study, we address this knowledge gap by investigating the contribution of phenotypic