Macroecology meets invasion ecology: Linking the native distributions of Australian acacias to invasiveness

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorHui C.
dc.contributor.authorRichardson D.M.
dc.contributor.authorRobertson M.P.
dc.contributor.authorWilson J.R.U.
dc.contributor.authorYates C.J.
dc.date.accessioned2011-10-13T16:59:02Z
dc.date.available2011-10-13T16:59:02Z
dc.date.issued2011
dc.description.abstractAim Species' native ranges reflect the net outcome of interactions between life-history strategies and biotic and abiotic influences over evolutionary time-scales. Differences in native ranges might be indicative both of relative historical performance and adaptability to new conditions. Consequently, the native ranges of successful invaders might have distinctive biogeographical characteristics. We test this hypothesis by (1) quantifying macroecological patterns of the entire assemblage of native taxa in Acacia subgenus Phyllodineae in Australia, (2) testing whether highly invasive taxa represent random samples from the patterns observed for the assemblage as a whole and (3) exploring the link between native geographical range and the position of species along the introduction-naturalization-invasion continuum. Location Australia and worldwide. Methods Three distributional metrics representing particular biogeographical characteristics of species' native ranges - the logarithms of range size, percolation intercept and percolation exponent - were calculated by fitting a revised alpha hull to records from Australia's Virtual Herbarium. Randomization and cascaded tests were used to compare these metrics for species at different stages of invasion. Results The macroecological patterns of the three distributional metrics displayed lognormal-like frequency distributions. Most invasive species had significantly lower percolation exponents and larger native ranges than expected from random draws from the entire assemblage of Australian acacias, but percolation intercepts were not significantly different. This can be explained by a selection bias at the early stages of invasion. Main conclusions The outcome of the natural experiment of transplanting many Australian acacias into novel environments is not random. While invasive species have a particular macroecological pattern, this can be explained by the observation that species with large native ranges and low percolation exponents (i.e. high population increase rate) are most likely to have been introduced and naturalized. Whether this pattern is an artefact of human selection or reflects a human bias towards selecting invasive species remains to be seen. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
dc.description.versionArticle
dc.identifier.citationDiversity and Distributions
dc.identifier.citation17
dc.identifier.citation5
dc.identifier.citationhttp://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-79961151127&partnerID=40&md5=7b85c7085ac188fb207d6a04a9dd2dcd
dc.identifier.issn13669516
dc.identifier.other10.1111/j.1472-4642.2011.00804.x
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/16951
dc.subjectBiological invasions
dc.subjectInvasive species
dc.subjectNative geographical range
dc.subjectSpatial scales
dc.subjectSpecies range size distribution
dc.subjectWattles
dc.subjectadaptation
dc.subjectanthropogenic effect
dc.subjectbiological invasion
dc.subjectenvironmental effect
dc.subjectexperimental study
dc.subjectgeographical distribution
dc.subjecthypothesis testing
dc.subjectinvasiveness
dc.subjectlegume
dc.subjectlife history trait
dc.subjectmacroecology
dc.subjectnatural selection
dc.subjectnaturalization
dc.subjectrange size
dc.subjectsize distribution
dc.subjecttransplantation
dc.subjectzoogeography
dc.subjectAustralia
dc.titleMacroecology meets invasion ecology: Linking the native distributions of Australian acacias to invasiveness
dc.typeArticle
Files
Collections
Stellenbosch University - Scopus Publications