Goethe-University, Institute of Ecology, Evolution and Diversity; Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, D-60438, Frankfurt/ M., Germany.
Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre; Senckenberganlage 25, D-60325, Frankfurt/ M., Germany.
Sci Rep. 2018 May 16;8(1):7733. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-26092-2.
Biological invasions have been associated with niche changes; however, their occurrence is still debated. We assess whether climatic niches between native and non-native ranges have changed during the invasion process using two globally spread mosquitoes as model species, Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti. Considering the different time spans since their invasions (>300 vs. 30-40 years), niche changes were expected to be more likely for Ae. aegypti than for Ae. albopictus. We used temperature and precipitation variables as descriptors for the realized climatic niches and different niche metrics to detect niche dynamics in the native and non-native ranges. High niche stability, therefore, no niche expansion but niche conservatism was revealed for both species. High niche unfilling for Ae. albopictus indicates a great potential for further expansion. Highest niche occupancies in non-native ranges occurred either under more temperate (North America, Europe) or tropical conditions (South America, Africa). Aedes aegypti has been able to fill its native climatic niche in the non-native ranges, with very low unfilling. Our results challenge the assumption of rapid evolutionary change of climatic niches as a requirement for global invasions but support the use of native range-based niche models to project future invasion risk on a large scale.
生物入侵与生态位变化有关；然而，它们的发生仍然存在争议。我们使用两种在全球范围内传播的蚊子作为模型物种，白纹伊蚊和埃及伊蚊，评估了在入侵过程中，本地和非本地范围的气候生态位是否发生了变化。考虑到它们入侵的时间跨度不同（>300 年与 30-40 年），预计埃及伊蚊的生态位变化比白纹伊蚊更有可能。我们使用温度和降水变量作为实现气候生态位的描述符，并使用不同的生态位指标来检测本地和非本地范围的生态位动态。结果表明，两种蚊子的生态位稳定性较高，没有生态位扩张，只有生态位保守。白纹伊蚊的生态位高度未被填满，表明其有进一步扩张的巨大潜力。在非本地范围内，埃及伊蚊的生态位占有率最高，要么在较温和的条件下（北美、欧洲），要么在热带条件下（南美、非洲）。埃及伊蚊已经能够在非本地范围内填补其本地气候生态位，几乎没有未被填满的生态位。我们的研究结果挑战了快速进化的气候生态位变化是全球入侵的必要条件的假设，但支持利用本地范围的生态位模型来大规模预测未来的入侵风险。
