A reassessment of historical records of avian introductions to Australia: no case for propagule pressure |
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Authors: | Michael P Moulton Wendell P Cropper Jr Linda E Moulton Michael L Avery David Peacock |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, PO Box 110430, Gainesville, FL 32611-0430, USA;(2) School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, PO Box 110410, Gainesville, FL 32611-0410, USA;(3) USDA Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, 2820 East University Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32641, USA;(4) Natural Resources Management Biosecurity Unit, Biosecurity SA, GPO Box 1671, Adelaide, SA, 5001, Australia |
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Abstract: | Introduced species are widely believed to represent a significant threat to conservation of biological diversity. A better
understanding of the ecological factors associated with successful species establishment should lead to improved management
and mitigation of these introductions. The “propagule pressure hypothesis”, implying a greater chance of successful introduction
with greater numbers introduced, has been widely accepted as a principal ecological factor in explaining establishment of
exotic species. The historical record of bird introductions in a few locations, including the state of Victoria in Australia,
has been advanced as the principal quantitative support for the hypothesis. We compiled lists of bird species introductions
into Australia from several sources, and discovered inconsistencies in the records of introductions. In a series of comparisons,
we found that the historical record of passerine introductions to Australia does not support the propagule pressure hypothesis
unless superfluous introductions of already successful species are included. An additional problem with previous analyses
is the inclusion of unsuccessful haphazard cage escapes. |
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