Warming can enhance invasion success through asymmetries in energetic performance

Abstract

Both climate warming and biological invasions are prominent drivers of global environmental change and it is important to determine how they interact. However, beyond tolerance and reproductive thresholds, little is known about temperature dependence of invaders' performance, particularly in the light of competitive attributes of functionally similar native species. We used experimentally derived energy budgets and field temperature data to determine whether anticipated warming will asymmetrically affect the energy budgets of the globally invasive Ponto-Caspian mysid crustacean Hemimysis anomala and a functionally similar native competitor (Mysis salemaai) whose range is currently being invaded. In contrast to M. salemaai, which maintains a constant feeding rate with temperature leading to diminishing energy assimilation, we found that H. anomala increases its feeding rate with temperature in parallel with growing metabolic demand. This enabled the invader to maintain high energy assimilation rates, conferring substantially higher scope for growth compared to the native analogue at spring-to-autumn temperatures. Anticipated warming will likely exacerbate this energetic asymmetry and remove the winter overlap, which, given the seasonal limitation of mutually preferred prey, appears to underpin coexistence of the two species. These results indicate that temperature-dependent asymmetries in scope for growth between invaders and native analogues comprise an important mechanism determining invasion success under warming climates. They also highlight the importance of considering relevant spectra of ecological contexts in predicting successful invaders and their impacts under warming scenarios.

Life history trade-offs, the intensity of competition, and coexistence in novel and evolving communities under climate change

“…This protective feature of native competition could benefit native species by preventing interaction with novel competitors, but may have detrimental effects on range-shifting species by preventing their poleward movement [67]. However, it has been well documented that range expansions select for faster life history strategies [16,68,69], and the same traits associated with a successful range expansion are also favoured under competition during periods of rapid environmental change [21,34,70,71]. Thus competition between native species and novel competitors that have already gathered momentum in their poleward shifts will likely be fierce, because all are experiencing faster (converged) life histories (figure 1c).…”

Nutrient availability and invasive fish jointly drive community dynamics in an experimental aquatic system

“…, Penk et al. ). Alternatively, if other forms of ecosystem change create barriers to invader establishment or enhance the ability of native species to coexist with nonnatives, they may prevent successful invasion or reduce the magnitude of invasion consequences (Zenni and Nuñez ).…”

Dietary niche constriction when invaders meet natives: evidence from freshwater decapods

“…; Penk, Irvine & Donohue ; Penk et al . ) and frequently alter the distribution of native species via a range of competitive interactions, predation pressure and/or habitat degradation (Mack et al . ; Simon & Townsend ; Hooper et al .…”