External morphology explains the success of biological invasions |
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Authors: | Ernesto Azzurro Victor M Tuset Antoni Lombarte Francesc Maynou Daniel Simberloff Ana Rodríguez‐Pérez Ricard V Solé |
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Institution: | 1. ISPRA, Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, , Livorno, 57123 Italy;2. Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC), , Barcelona, 08003 Spain;3. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, , Knoxville, TN, 37996 USA;4. ICREA‐Complex Systems Lab UPF‐IBE, , Barcelona, 08003 Spain;5. Santa Fe Institute, , Santa Fe, NM, USA |
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Abstract: | Biological invasions have become major players in the current biodiversity crisis, but realistic tools to predict which species will establish successful populations are still unavailable. Here we present a novel approach that requires only a morphometric characterisation of the species. Using fish invasions of the Mediterranean, we show that the abundance of non‐indigenous fishes correlates with the location and relative size of occupied morphological space within the receiving pool of species. Those invaders that established abundant populations tended to be added outside or at the margins of the receiving morphospace, whereas non‐indigenous species morphologically similar to resident ones failed to develop large populations or even to establish themselves, probably because the available ecological niches were already occupied. Accepting that morphology is a proxy for a species' ecological position in a community, our findings are consistent with ideas advanced since Darwin's naturalisation hypothesis and provide a new warning signal to identify invaders and to recognise vulnerable communities. |
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Keywords: | Abundance biological invasions geometric morphology Lessepsian fish limiting similarity Mediterranean Sea morphological niche species coexistence |
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