Does Darwin’s Naturalization Hypothesis Explain Fish Invasions?

Darwin’s naturalization hypothesis predicts that introduced species tend not to invade areas containing congeneric native species, because they would otherwise compete with their close relatives and would likely encounter predators and pathogens that can attack them. An opposing view is that introduced species should succeed in areas where native congeners are present because they are more likely to share traits that pre-adapt them to their new environment. A test of both these hypotheses using data on fish introductions from several independent regions fails to support either viewpoints. In contrast to studies of nonindigenous plants, our results suggest that taxonomic affiliation is not an important general predictor of fish invasion success.     

Giant invasive Heracleum persicum: Friend or foe of plant diversity?

The impact of invasion on diversity varies widely and remains elusive. Despite the considerable attempts to understand mechanisms of biological invasion, it is largely unknown whether some communities’ characteristics promote biological invasion, or whether some inherent characteristics of invaders enable them to invade other communities. Our aims were to assess the impact of one of the massive plant invaders of Scandinavia on vascular plant species diversity, disentangle attributes of invasible and noninvasible communities, and evaluate the relationship between invasibility and genetic diversity of a dominant invader. We studied 56 pairs of Heracleum persicum Desf. ex Fisch.‐invaded and noninvaded plots from 12 locations in northern Norway. There was lower native cover, evenness, taxonomic diversity, native biomass, and species richness in the invaded plots than in the noninvaded plots. The invaded plots had nearly two native species fewer than the noninvaded plots on average. Within the invaded plots, cover of H. persicum had a strong negative effect on the native cover, evenness, and native biomass, and a positive association with the height of the native plants. Plant communities containing only native species appeared more invasible than those that included exotic species, particularly H. persicum. Genetic diversity of H. persicum was positively correlated with invasibility but not with community diversity. The invasion of a plant community by H. persicum exerts consistent negative pressure on vascular plant diversity. The lack of positive correlation between impacts and genetic diversity of H. persicum indicates that even a small founder population may cause high impact. We highlight community stability or saturation as an important determinant of invasibility. While the invasion by H. persicum may decrease susceptibility of a plant community to further invasion, it severely reduces the abundance of native species and makes them more vulnerable to competitive exclusion.     

浅议我国外来物种入侵问题及其防治对策

随着世界经济的发展和全球经济一体化进程的加快,外来物种入侵已成为影响国家安全的主要因素之一。我国外来入侵物种数量繁多,已成为遭受外来生物危害最严重的国家之一,入侵物种已对我国生态系统、环境和社会经济造成了严重的影响。近年来,各国都积极采取措施,制定外来物种入侵管理政策,加强外来物种入侵立法,确保国家及国际生物安全。然而,我国现有的针对外来物种的相关法律法规存在明显滞后。本文综述了我国外来物种入侵的现状及相关立法,指出外来物种入侵可在不同生态系之间发生,揭示了行政区划与生态系差异造成外来物种入侵管理存在\"自然与经济的错位\"、国内管理方面存在\"生态系统与行政区域的错位\"的\"双错位现象\",分析了我国外来物种的管理现状及今后的发展方向,以期探求我国在国际背景下的外来物种管理对策,提出制定《外来入侵物种法》及相关法律的国家体系、建立跨部门协作科学研究体系以及建设行政管理体系,增强抵御外来物种入侵的能力,实施以防为主的管理策略。     

海南岛的外来植物

通过对海南岛野生或半野生外来入侵植物的调查,报道了153种外来植物,并对近年来在海南岛大面积分布而未报道过的入侵种进行简要介绍。对海南外来植物种类组成、原产地、生活型与危害程度的分析发现:(1)外来植物中有66.67%来自美洲,美洲种的96%为热带美洲成分,几乎所有来自美洲的草本植物往往成为遍布海南各地农田、果园、胶林、草地的有害杂草;(2)外来草本与藤本植物具有较强的入侵能力和较大的危害;(3)绝大多数草本与藤本植物常形成单一优势群落,破坏平地、低丘陵原有的生态系统。     

Changes in A Lady Beetle Community Following the Establishment of Three Alien Species

A number of recent studies indicated that establishment of exotic lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) may have adverse affects on native lady beetle species. In the present study, we analyzed changes in coccinellid community inhabiting potato crops in northern Maine over the past 31 years. Prior to 1980, lady beetle communities were comprised almost exclusively of the two native species, Coccinella transversoguttata Brown and Hippodamia tredecimpunctata(Say). Starting 1980, an exotic species Coccinella septempunctata L. became permanently established in potato crops and quickly started to dominate lady beetle community. Two other exotic species, Harmonia axyridis(Pallas) and Propylea quatordecimpunctata(L.) became prominent members of the lady beetle community in 1995 and 1996. Invasion by exotic species was followed by a significant decline in the abundance of C. transversoguttata and H. tredecimpunctata, and a significant increase in the overall diversity of lady beetle community. The abundance of aphid prey was substantially reduced after the establishment of H. axyridis. The observed trends demonstrate the profound effects that exotic natural enemies may have on target and non-target native species, and highlight the importance of their thorough evaluation before initiating biological control programs.     

Patterns of invasion in the Laurentian Great Lakes in relation to changes in vector activity

The Laurentian Great Lakes basin has been invaded by at least 182 non-indigenous species. A new invader is discovered every 28 weeks, which is the highest rate recorded for a freshwater ecosystem. Over the past century, invasions have occurred in phases linked to changes in the dominant vectors. The number of ship-vectored invaders recorded per decade is correlated with the intensity of vessel traffic within the basin. Ballast water release from ocean vessels is the putative vector for 65% of all invasions recorded since the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959. As a preventive measure, ocean vessels have been required since 1993 to exchange their freshwater or estuarine ballast with highly saline ocean water prior to entering the Great Lakes. However, this procedure has not prevented ship-vectored species introductions. Most ships visiting the Great Lakes declare 'no ballast on board' (NOBOB) and are exempt from the regulation, even though they carry residual water that is discharged into the Great Lakes during their activities of off-loading inbound cargo and loading outbound cargo. Recently introduced species consist predominantly of benthic invertebrates with broad salinity tolerance. Such species are most likely to survive in a ballast tank following ballast water exchange, as well as transport in the residual water and tank sediments of NOBOB ships. Thus, the Great Lakes remain at risk of being invaded by dozens of euryhaline invertebrates that have spread into Eurasian ports from whence originates the bulk of foreign ships visiting the basin.     

Novel insights into the emergence of pathogens: the case of chestnut blight

Exotic, invasive pathogens have emerged repeatedly and continue to emerge to threaten the world’s forests. Ecosystem structure and function can be permanently changed when keystone tree species such as the American chestnut (Castanea dentata) are eliminated from a whole range by disease. The fungal ascomycete pathogen Cryphonectria parasitica is responsible for causing chestnut blight. Once the pathogen was introduced into the Eastern US, where chestnuts were predominant, chestnuts were all but eliminated. This pathogen is currently causing extensive damage in Europe. A study in this issue of Molecular Ecology sheds new light on the pattern and process of emergence of this devastating plant pathogen ( Dutech et al. 2012 ). The authors used microsatellite markers to investigate the evolutionary history of C. parasitica populations introduced into North America and Europe. To infer sources of migrants and the migration events, the authors included putative source populations endemic to China and Japan, inferred potentially unsampled populations and conducted a multivariate population genetic and complex ABC analysis. Cryphonectria parasitica emerges as an example of an introduced pathogen with limited genotypic diversity and some admixture in the invaded ranges, yet repeated invasions into different areas of Europe and the United States. This work sheds new light on the emergence of C. parasitica providing compelling evidence that this pathogen emerged by repeated migration and occasional admixture.