Urbanization can increase the invasive potential of alien species

Abstract

1. Alien species often flourish and become invasive in urban ecosystems. How and why invaders succeed in urban systems is an important, yet poorly understood, question. We investigate whether the success of urban invaders is related to changes in species traits that enhance invasive potential. We also explore whether This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Invasion success and tolerance to urbanization in birds

“…Because NIS are more likely to be introduced in urban environments -whether intentionally or accidentally through the pet trade (Abellán et al 2017, Padayachee et al 2017, Lockwood et al 2019 or horticulture (Hulme 2009) -the 'disturbance hypothesis' provides a plausible explanation for the unexpected success of many biological invasions. Although evidence is accumulating that NIS attain higher success in human-altered environments compared to less modified areas (Cadotte et al 2017, Nordheimer et al 2018; but see Redding et al 2019), the 'disturbance hypothesis' is insufficient to resolve the paradoxical success of NIS because it does not explain why they are able to exploit environments that most local native species do not tolerate (Mckinney 2006, Evans et al 2011, Sol et al 2014, Cadotte et al 2017, Ducatez et al 2018, Santana Marques et al 2020.…”

First record of non-native Xiphophorus maculatus (Günther, 1866) (Cyprinodontiformes, Poeciliidae) in the state of Maranhão, northeastern Brazil

“…Many poeciliid fishes are widespread and phenotypically plastic r-selected species that proliferate rapidly. Their successful establishment in new habitats are often facilitated by the degradation of natural habitats and urbanization of water bodies (Santana et al 2020). Poecilids have a perceived positive socio-economic value, with respect to economic potential and mosquito-borne disease control, despite no satisfactory studies indicating a dietaru preference for mosquito larvae (Lucinda 2003).…”

“…However, to assess the impact caused by these invasive species in northeastern Brazil, particular ecological conditions should be investigated, such as the abundance of invasive fishes and their distribution and environmental parameters. This is especially important in areas of increased urbanization, which have conditions that facilitate invasions through multiple environmental stressors (Santana et al 2020;Jackson et al 2021).…”

Individual variation in feeding morphology, not diet, can facilitate the success of generalist species in urban ecosystems

“…In previous work, we show that urban and non-urban guppies have different diet using estimates based on the mean food consumption (Marques et al, 2020). Now, to explore the source of mean dietary difference, we reanalyzed the same individuals previously used, focusing on individual variation.…”