Recurrent bridgehead effects accelerate global alien ant spread

Biological invasions are a major threat to biological diversity, agriculture, and human health. To predict and prevent new invasions, it is crucial to develop a better understanding of the drivers of the invasion process. The analysis of 4,533 border interception events revealed that at least 51 dif...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2018-05, Vol.115 (21), p.5486-5491
Main Authors: Bertelsmeier, Cleo, Ollier, Sébastien, Liebhold, Andrew M., Brockerhoff, Eckehard G., Ward, Darren, Keller, Laurent
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
Animals
Ants - physiology
Biodiversity
Biological Sciences
Biomass
Ecosystem
Environmental Sciences
Feedback loops
Health risks
Indigenous species
Interception
Introduced Species
Invasions
Invasive species
New Zealand
Positive feedback
Probability distribution
Random variables
United States
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Biological invasions are a major threat to biological diversity, agriculture, and human health. To predict and prevent new invasions, it is crucial to develop a better understanding of the drivers of the invasion process. The analysis of 4,533 border interception events revealed that at least 51 different alien ant species were intercepted at US ports over a period of 70 years (1914–1984), and 45 alien species were intercepted entering New Zealand over a period of 68 years (1955–2013). Most of the interceptions did not originate from species’ native ranges but instead came from invaded areas. In the United States, 75.7% of the interceptions came from a country where the intercepted ant species had been previously introduced. In New Zealand, this value was even higher, at 87.8%. There was an overrepresentation of interceptions from nearby locations (Latin America for species intercepted in the United States and Oceania for species intercepted in New Zealand). The probability of a species’ successful establishment in both the United States and New Zealand was positively related to the number of interceptions of the species in these countries. Moreover, species that have spread to more continents are also more likely to be intercepted and to make secondary introductions. This creates a positive feedback loop between the introduction and establishment stages of the invasion process, in which initial establishments promote secondary introductions. Overall, these results reveal that secondary introductions act as a critical driver of increasing global rates of invasions.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1801990115