Expansion and population dynamics of a non-native invasive species: the 40-year history of American mink colonisation of Poland

Marcin Brzeziński,Michał Żmihorski,Aleksandra Zarzycka,Andrzej Zalewski

doi:10.1007/s10530-018-1844-7

Abstract

The American mink, an invasive mammal introduced to Europe, severely impacts native biodiversity. The history of its invasion has been poorly investigated in central and eastern Europe, and the current variations in densities of mink populations are not well studied, thus making a reduction of its impact difficult. Here we analyse the temporal dynamics and spatial distribution of the American mink population in Poland, which began to establish itself at the beginning of the 1980s and originated from Polish farm escapees and immigrants from Lithuania and Belarus. Mink dispersal started in the north and continued to the south and in 2016 mink occurrence was recorded across ca. 75% of the country. By about 1997 mink had colonised half of Poland, and in 2016 the only mink-free area was in the south and south-east of the country. The rate of expansion showed accelerating and decelerating patterns, and reached its maximum 12 years after the beginning of the expansion. Mink farming in western Poland developed rapidly after 2000 and probably influenced acceleration of mink range expansion rates in years 2006–2008. Indices of mink densities showed significant nonlinear change over time since local populations were established and were highest in populations estimated to be 10–15 years old. The prediction of non-native species invasion rates and population dynamics should be incorporated into management actions curbing their negative impact on native fauna.

Highlights

Invasive species pose a threat to biodiversity and often contribute to a decrease, or local extinction, of native species (Clavero and Garcıa-Berthou 2005; Hilton and Cuthbert 2010)
Understanding the mechanisms that limit or accelerate rates of range expansion and affect population dynamics during expansion is of key importance to predict spread and reduce the negative impacts of invasive species
The rate of range expansion had accelerating and decelerating patterns at various stages of the invasion, which most probably reflects both variation in habitat and prey availability in newly colonised areas (Melero et al 2014; Fraser et al 2015), and the number of mink that escaped from farms (Fasola et al 2011; Iordan et al 2012)

Summary

Introduction

Invasive species pose a threat to biodiversity and often contribute to a decrease, or local extinction, of native species (Clavero and Garcıa-Berthou 2005; Hilton and Cuthbert 2010). Theoretical models describe dispersal as a simple random-diffusion process and assume a linear, constant increase in range over time across a homogeneous landscape in which habitat connectivity is high (Skellam 1951; Okubo and Levin 2002). In some cases such a dispersal pattern has been observed Landscape and habitat heterogeneity strongly affect expansion rates across space (Smith et al 2002; Zalewski et al 2009), and identifying the environmental conditions that influence expansion is important for managing invasive species populations

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