Geographical range expansion of alien birds and environmental matching

Abstract

The international wildlife trade is a significant source of introduced alien species, some of which proceed to become invasive and cause negative environmental and economic effects. However, not all introduced aliens establish viable populations, and it is important to identify the factors that determine establishment success. We explore the role of environmental suitability (including anthropogenic influences, climate and habitat types) in the establishment success of alien bird species introduced to Taiwan. Using maximum entropy modelling, we employed a recursive feature elimination and Akaike information criterion (AIC)‐based stepwise model selection approach to assess whether the environmental suitability, native range size, body size, residence time and the numbers of birds for sale in the shops affect variation in the extent of alien bird range size in Taiwan. We show that species with larger native range sizes and larger body sizes tend to have larger alien range sizes in Taiwan. There was no effect of environmental suitability on alien range size in Taiwan, but environmental suitability influenced the establishment success of bird species there.

Environmental resistance predicts the spread of alien species

“…12,13 ). In particular, alien species often fail to spread into conditions occupied in their native range, while at the same time expanding into novel climates [12][13][14][15][16][17][18] . The potential limited accuracy of ecological niche models represents a major challenge for managing risks from biological invasions, and motivates the search for novel approaches for predicting the spread of alien species.…”

Closing the gap: Avian lineage splits at a young, narrow seaway imply a protracted history of mixed population response

“…It can be presumed that bird ranges expand to fill accessible, suitable habitat as tectonic activity enlarged North Island, southwards. Northern Weka and small forest birds would have occupied the new habitat in a manner routinely evoked when considering expansion from climate refugia (e.g., Graham, VanDerWal, Phillips, Moritz, & Williams, ; Hewitt, ), and observed after species introduction (e.g., Su, Cassey, Dyer, & Blackburn, ). Modern bird range changes in New Zealand confirm this (e.g., Clegg et al., ), but bridging the gap between north and south would have required long distance dispersal (Crisp, Trewick, & Cook, ).…”

“…there is no evidence for their physical connection until the late Pleistocene. It is plausible that initial range expansion across these islands by a flying ancestor led to the establishment of separate populations that then evolved independently, as evident in Gallirallus more widely in the Pacific (Figure 1) (e.g., Garcia-R et al, 2014a;Trewick, 1997b Hewitt, 1996), and observed after species introduction (e.g., Su, Cassey, Dyer, & Blackburn, 2017). Modern bird range changes in New Zealand confirm this (e.g., Clegg et al, 2002), but bridging the gap between north and south would have required long distance dispersal (Crisp, Trewick, & Cook, 2011).…”

The Global Avian Invasions Atlas - A database of alien bird distributions worldwide

“…The data contained within GAVIA constitute a large evidence base for the analysis of spatial and temporal patterns in alien bird distributions, and will be an important resource for scientists interested in understanding the invasion process. Multiple publications have already arisen from these data 6,9,10,11,12,13 , however there are still many aspects yet to be explored. Overlaying the GAVIA data with datasets of environmental variables or species attributes provides a wealth of additional analytical possibilities, and should significantly increase the breadth of our understanding of invasions as a result.…”