Is dispersal promoted at the invasion front? Morphological analysis of a ground beetle invading the Kerguelen Islands, Merizodus soledadinus (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

• Published in: Biological Invasions
• Main Authors: Laparie, Mathieu, Renault, David, Lebouvier, Marc, Delattre, Thomas
• Other Authors: Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution Rennes (ECOBIO), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR)-Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES), IPEV Programme 136, CNRS ZA Antarctique et Subantartique;, ANR-07-VULN-0004,EVINCE,Vulnerability of native communities to invasive insects and climate change in sub-antarctic islands.(2007)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2013
• Subjects: Biological invasion; Body size evolution; Dispersal syndrome; Insect Invasion succession; Sub-Antarctic islands; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; Antarctic; Kerguelen; Kerguelen Islands; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00860973; https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-012-0403-x

International audience As a biological invasion proceeds, the spread of the alien may promote dispersal ability at the front by direct and indirect selection, thereby altering the dynamics of the invasion. Morphology correlates with dispersal in numerous taxa, and represents a relevant integration of temporal or geographical changes in dispersal. Using data from Laparie et al. (Biol Invasions 12:3405-3417, 2010) in a ground beetle introduced to a single location of the Kerguelen Islands in 1913, we examined the quantitative relationship between distance in residence time and morphological distance (computed from a multivariate combination of parameters). A consistent relationship depicted a quantitative match between differences in morphology and residence time. Body size increased from the founder population to successive child populations (femur, thorax, abdomen and head), whichmay indicate increasing dispersal ability along the colonization history of the species. The morphological differentiation may result from a combination of both dispersal pattern and residency effect in former populations, the latter leading to decreasing size when residence time increases, due to alteration of trophic conditions following invasion by the beetle. Our results offer a fertile ground for investigating spatial selection and promotion of dispersers on front margins, as they highlight the dynamic fashion of dispersal ability during invasions.