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Species invasiveness and community invasibility of North American freshwater fish fauna revealed via trait-based analysis

G. Su,Adam Mertel,S. Brosse,J. Calabrese

Published 2023 in Nature Communications

ABSTRACT

Predicting non-native species’ invasiveness and vulnerability of communities to invasions is challenging. Here, the authors show that establishment of non-native freshwater fish species in the US depends on the functional characteristics of both non-native and resident species. While biological invasions are recognized as a major threat to global biodiversity, determining non-native species’ abilities to establish in new areas (species invasiveness) and the vulnerability of those areas to invasions (community invasibility) is challenging. Here, we use trait-based analysis to profile invasive species and quantify the community invasibility for >1,800 North American freshwater fish communities. We show that, in addition to effects attributed to propagule pressure caused by human intervention, species with higher fecundity, longer lifespan and larger size tend to be more invasive. Community invasibility peaks when the functional distance among native species was high, leaving unoccupied functional space for the establishment of potential invaders. Our findings illustrate how the functional traits of non-native species determining their invasiveness, and the functional characteristics of the invaded community determining its invasibility, may be identified. Considering those two determinants together will enable better predictions of invasions.

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