Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
Science. 2012 Aug 3;337(6094):580-3. doi: 10.1126/science.1221523.
Despite considerable current interest in biological invasions, the common life-history characteristics of successful invaders remain elusive. The widely held hypothesis that successful invaders have high reproductive rates has received little empirical support; however, alternative possibilities are seldom considered. Combining a global comparative analysis of avian introductions (>2700 events) with demographic models and phylogenetic comparative methods, we show that although rapid population growth may be advantageous during invasions under certain circumstances, more generally successful invaders are characterized by life-history strategies in which they give priority to future rather than current reproduction. High future breeding expectations reduce the costs of reproductive failure under uncertain conditions and increase opportunities to explore the environment and respond to novel ecological pressures.
尽管目前人们对生物入侵非常感兴趣，但成功的入侵物种的常见生活史特征仍然难以捉摸。广泛持有的假说认为，成功的入侵物种具有高繁殖率，但这一假说几乎没有得到经验证据的支持；然而，很少有人考虑其他可能性。通过对鸟类引入（>2700 个事件）的全球比较分析，结合人口模型和系统发育比较方法，我们表明，虽然在某些情况下，快速的种群增长在入侵过程中可能是有利的，但更普遍的成功入侵物种的生活史策略是优先考虑未来而不是当前的繁殖。高的未来繁殖预期降低了在不确定条件下繁殖失败的成本，并增加了探索环境和应对新生态压力的机会。
