The effect of propagule size on the invasion of an alien insect

By J. Memmott, Paul G. Craze, H. Harman, P. Syrett, S. Fowler. 2005

141 citations recorded by the source corpus.

1. The movement of species from their native ranges to alien environments is a serious threat to biological diversity. The number of individuals involved in an invasion provides a strong theoretical basis for determining the likelihood of establishment of an alien species. 2. Here a field experiment was used to manipulate the critical first stages of the invasion of an alien insect, a psyllid weed biocontrol agent, Arytainilla spartiophila Forster, in New Zealand and to observe the progress of the invasion over the following 6 years. 3. Fifty-five releases were made along a linear transect 135 km long: 10 releases of two, four, 10, 30 and 90 psyllids and five releases of 270 psyllids. Six years after their original release, psyllids were present in 22 of the 55 release sites. Analysis by logistic regression showed that the probability of establishment was significantly and positively related to initial release size, but that this effect was important only during the psyllids' first year in the field. 4. Although less likely to establish, some of the releases of two and four psyllids did survive 5 years in the field. Overall, releases that survived their first year had a 96% chance of surviving thereafter, providing the release site remained secure. The probability of colony loss due to site destruction remained the same throughout the experiment, whereas the probability of natural extinction reduced steeply over time. 5. During the first year colonies were undergoing a process of establishment and, in most cases, population size decreased. After this first year, a period of exponential growth ensued. 6. A lag period was observed before the populations increased dramatically in size. This was thought to be due to inherent lags caused by the nature of population growth, which causes the smaller releases to appear to have a longer lag period.

Subfields: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Insect Science, Nature and Landscape Conservation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/2ee8b7e3754d7f33048a70fc0cc215a4e5d544ae

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In Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

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Citations in the corpus

Reconstructing routes of invasion using genetic data: why, how and so what? (2010, background): “Several factors determine the capacity of invasive populations to respond to selection, and genetic variability plays an important role (Drake & Lodge 2006; Facon et al. 2006; Lockwood et al. 2005; Memmott et al. 2005).”
Can commercially imported bumble bees out‐compete their native conspecifics? (2006, background): “the propagule pressure, is important for establishment (Lockwood, Cassey & Blackburn 2005; Memmott et al . 2005; Von Holle & Simberloff 2005).”
Population ecology of insect invasions and their management. (2008, background): “Memmott (82) found that in the year following the release of Arytainilla spartiophila, a herbivorous biological control agent, populations typically decreased and then slowly began to increase in following years.”
Residence time and potential range: crucial considerations in modelling plant invasions (2007, background): “Similarly, propagule pressure has been shown to be an important consideration in invertebrate invasions, at least when releasing classical biological control agents (Shea & Possingham, 2000; Memmott et al., 2005).”
Growth of newly established alien populations: comparison of North American gypsy moth colonies with invasion theory (2006, background): “In other cases, the delay may be merely the result of the slow growth of a population originating from a very small number of founding individuals (Memmott et al. 2005).”
Spreading–vanishing dichotomy in a diffusive logistic model with a free boundary, II☆ (2011, unknown): “[20]) is reviewed.”
Ecological niches and potential geographical distributions of Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata) and Natal fruit fly (Ceratitis rosa) (2007, background): “Propagule pressure has been shown to be important for the establishment of insects that are used as biocontrol agents for plants (Memmott et al., 2005).”
Linking climate change and species invasion: an illustration using insect herbivores (2007, background): “Much attention has recently focussed on propagule pressure as a factor explaining variation in invasion success (e.g. Lockwood et al., 2005; Memmott et al., 2005).”
Spatial dynamics of supercolonies of the invasive yellow crazy ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes, on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean (2006, background): “The phenomena of lag times prior to population explosions, whether rapid or gradual, is still poorly understood (Simberloff & Gibbons, 2004), but are well known for some invasions (Crooks & Soulé, 1999; Simberloff & Gibbons, 2004; Memmott et al., 2005).”
Explaining and predicting the success of invading species at different stages of invasion (2006, background): “…is the most important identifiable factor in stages of invasions by birds from ‘uptake from native range’ to ‘population increase and range expansion’, Memmott et al. (2005) show propagule pressure to be important only in the first year of experimental establishment of an insect, while Cox (2004)…”
The spreading front of invasive species in favorable habitat or unfavorable habitat (2013, background): “their native habitats to alien environments is a serious threat to biological diversity [25].”