Abstract
One of the most dominant concepts in invasion ecology is the stage-based invasion model, consisting of transport, introduction, establishment and spread. Many species fail at one of the stages, with propagule pressure (i.e. number of introduced individuals) identified as a principal factor affecting establishment success. Population characteristics such as phenotypic plasticity and beneficial life history traits may facilitate successful transition of species through different stages of the process; however, studies on the latter are not so common and most of those studies focus on terrestrial taxa. In this study, we hypothesized seven life history traits that may be beneficial for invasion success of aquatic species, and determined those traits for established non-indigenous species (NIS) in the North and Baltic Seas (i.e. marine environment) and Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River regions (i.e. freshwater environment). This is the first study that examined certain life history traits of all NIS established in particular regions, as well as compared those traits between marine and freshwater habitats. Our study determined some differences in life history traits between NIS in the marine and freshwater habitats. Those differences were connected to different taxonomic groups that were dominant NIS in these two types of habitats. Furthermore, species originating from different donor regions had also different life history traits. The majority of NIS in both regions were r-strategists. There was a significantly higher number of NIS that were able to reproduce both asexually and sexually and to produce dormant stages in the freshwater than in marine habitat. Finally, as r-strategy, asexual reproduction and dormancy were dominant traits of NIS in the freshwater habitat, freshwater ecosystems may be under greater invasion risk than marine ones, as those traits reduce both demographic and environmental stochasticity during the invasion process.
Highlights
Anthropogenic introductions of species to new areas are facilitated by globalization and climate change (Lockwood et al 2007; Hellmann et al 2008; Hulme et al 2008; Hulme 2009; Capinha et al 2015)
R/K strategy, feeding type, and feeding mode were determined for the majority of species in both regions, number of broods per year, dormancy and ability for regeneration were determined for 19.2, 10.3, and 35.2% of species in the marine, and 20.7, 51.6, and 43.6% in the freshwater habitats, respectively (Figure 1)
As our literature search was very extensive and the majority of non-indigenous species (NIS) in the studied regions were previously studied due to their non-indigenous status, we believe that when we were not able to find information on ability to produce dormant stages or to regenerate, there is a high probability that those species were not able to produce dormant stages or to regenerate; though this assumption would not be the case for the number of broods per year
Summary
Anthropogenic introductions of species to new areas are facilitated by globalization and climate change (Lockwood et al 2007; Hellmann et al 2008; Hulme et al 2008; Hulme 2009; Capinha et al 2015). Life history traits in aquatic invasions including transport, introduction, establishment and spread (Kolar and Lodge 2001; Colautti and MacIsaac 2004; Blackburn et al 2011). Phenotypic plasticity and certain life history traits may facilitate maintenance of high propagule pressure, thereby increasing the probability of successful invasion (Kolar and Lodge 2001; Colautti and MacIsaac 2004; Blackburn et al 2011; Lande 2015)
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