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Dryad

Urban stress tolerance supports the anthropogenically induced adaptation to invade hypothesis

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Aug 07, 2024 version files 155.03 KB

Abstract

Understanding factors which drive invasion success of non-native species is critical to achieving global conservation goals. Dozens of hypotheses attempt to explain biological invasions, but pre-invasion conditions affecting source population invasiveness have been neglected. The ‘anthropogenically induced adaptation to invade’ hypothesis postulates that populations adapted to anthropogenically-altered habitats in their native ranges are likely to be pre-adapted to similar habitats worldwide. Here, we conducted the widest empirical test of this hypothesis through stress experiments with one mussel Mytilus sp. and two gammarid species Gammarus locusta and G. salinus from protected and human-altered habitats to determine tolerance to salinity, temperature and pCO2 regimes. Populations from impacted habitats typically outperformed protected habitat populations, with individuals from the most impacted habitat being the most robust. We propose that urban non-native species populations are adapting to life in disturbed environments-this pre-adaptation poses increased invasion risk due to high tolerance to increasingly ubiquitous human-altered environments.