To invade or not to invade? Exploring the niche-based processes underlying the failure of a biological invasion using the invasive Chinese mitten crab

Abstract

Invasive alien species represent a serious threat to global biodiversity, causing considerable damage to native ecosystems. To better assess invasion risks, it is essential to better understand the biological processes that determine the success or failure of invasions. The catadromous Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis, whose native distribution is the Pacific Coast of China and Korea, has successfully invaded and established populations in North America and Europe. In Japan, where E. sinensis is also regarded as potentially invasive and multiple introduction vectors exist, the species is not yet established. These settings can be used to explore niche-based processes underlying the apparent failure of a biological invasion. We first quantified native and invasive realized niches of E. sinensis in freshwater habitats using geometrical n-dimensional hypervolumes. Based on the assumption of niche conservatism, we then projected habitat suitability of this species in Japan using species distribution models (SDMs) calibrated with distinct sets of distribution data: native occurrences, invasive occurrences, and both. Results showed that E. sinensis has undergone either niche shifts or niche contractions during invasions in different areas of the world. Projections from SDMs indicate that although part of Japan is suitable for E. sinensis, this does not include the freshwater habitats around the Ariake Sea, which is considered to be a suitable marine environment for E. sinensis larvae. The mismatch between suitable freshwater and marine environments provides a

Concepts and applications in functional diversity

“…The interest in multidimensional representations of the trait space (and of the ecological niche; Holt, 2009) is raising. Beyond trait-based ecology (Blonder, 2019), hypervolumes have been applied to fields as diverse as environmental risk assessment (Yemshanov et al, 2017), invasion biology (Zhang, Mammola, McLay, Capinha, & Yokota, 2020), and cybersecurity (Gonzalez-Granadillo, Garcia-Alfaro, & Debar, 2017). It has been ironically pointed out that there are now probably "as many definitions of these multidimensional spaces [...] as there are questions that can be tackled with such methods" (Guillerme, 2018).…”

Lineage‐level distribution models lead to more realistic climate change predictions for a threatened crayfish

“…Different populations of the same species inhabiting geographically and ecologically distinct environments may experience local adaptation and thus have niches that are divergent to some extent (e.g. Zhang et al., 2020). For such systems, modelling habitat suitability below the species level should lead to more accurate range estimates and climate change projections (Collart et al, in press; Pearman et al., 2010; Smith et al., 2019).…”

Predicting the potential distribution and forest impact of the invasive species Cydalima perspectalis in Europe

“…Differences between these two models were explained because the presence in Asia covered a wider range of values in the considered climate variables and, therefore, presented a wider climate niche than ClimEurope. This is a case of niche shift in biological invasion, and it is widely discussed in distribution and invasion studies (Zhang et al., 2020). Niche variation may correspond to the fact that the species in its native area had more time to expand and to be in pseudo‐equilibrium with the environment (Gallien et al., 2012), although the small number of occurrences collected in Asia for this species may increase such an effect (Hernandez et al., 2006; Wisz et al., 2008).…”