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A reciprocal test of D arwin's naturalization hypothesis in two mediterranean‐climate regions
Author(s) -
Park Daniel S.,
Potter Daniel
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
global ecology and biogeography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.164
H-Index - 152
eISSN - 1466-8238
pISSN - 1466-822X
DOI - 10.1111/geb.12352
Subject(s) - ecology , ecological niche , biology , taxon , species richness , niche , introduced species , invasive species , mediterranean climate , interspecific competition , temperate climate , habitat
Aim Regions with a mediterranean climate are among the most species‐rich regions in the world. They are also among the regions with the greatest number of non‐native invasive species. However, not all introduced species become invasive. Previously, we found that non‐native A steraceae closely related to native species are more likely to establish and spread in C alifornia, USA . We conducted reciprocal studies in another mediterranean‐climate region with high species richness, the I talian P eninsula. M editerranean B asin invaders in the A stereae mostly originated in temperate N orth A merica, whereas the invasive C ardueae of C alifornia are primarily from the M editerranean B asin. Location The M editerranean B asin ( I taly). Methods Utilizing the first fossil‐calibrated molecular phylogenies of the tribe A stereae, we explored the evolutionary patterns among native and non‐native taxa within this group. To elucidate the mechanisms driving the observed patterns, we modelled the ecological niches of A stereae species on a global scale and examined correlations between ecological similarity and evolutionary relatedness among taxa. Results Not only were invasive taxa highly clustered among natives, they were also more closely related to natives than were non‐invasive introduced taxa. We found that invasive species had higher degrees of niche overlap with native species than did non‐invasive introduced species. Moreover, pairwise niche distance among species was significantly correlated with evolutionary time, indicating that the ecological niche is phylogenetically conserved. Main conclusions The results of our study are consistent with those from our work in C alifornia, suggesting that introduced A steraceae taxa that are closely related to native species are likely to become invasive on both sides of the A tlantic. Furthermore, existing ecological attributes seem to drive these evolutionary patterns. We suggest that potential invaders closely related to natives should be considered as high priorities for management.