Abstract
Certain behavioural traits, including innovation and reduced neophobia, may facilitate successful invasions by allowing first arrivals to overcome the challenges of a novel environment. However, the extent to which these traits occur in invasive populations in comparison with native populations, and whether these traits' prevalence remains consistent throughout a species’ introduced range, have been scarcely investigated. We tested whether object neophobia, food neophobia and two levels of motor innovation in the common myna, Acridotheres tristis, a widespread avian invader, in its native range (India) as well as across an invasive range (Israel), are more prevalent at the edge of the invasion front relative to its centre and to the native ranges. We found that individuals from the invasion front were more innovative and more tolerant of novel food than those from both nonfront invasive populations and the native range. Moreover, these traits showed a gradual loss within the invasive population with increasing time since population establishment. Our results provide crucial empirical evidence to support the adaptive flexibility hypothesis for invasion processes and emphasize the role of behaviour in biological invasions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 61-72 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Animal Behaviour |
| Volume | 163 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2020 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank Manju Siliwal for her invaluable contribution; Andrea Griffin for her guidance and helpful advice; Francoise Lermite for her support and help with statistical analysis; Shahar Zanzuri, Lior Davis and Daniel Yagoda for their help with data analysis; Ori Peleg for his help with study design; and Srinivas Yellapau for his help with molecular lab work. We thank the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) and Uttarakhand State Forest Department for providing permits. We particularly thank Dr Dhananjai Mohan, Dr V. B. Mathur and Dr G. S. Rawat for providing support in undertaking the study in India. We also thank the numerous individuals who helped capture and care for birds including Yotam Ghendler, Eyal Deri, Yonatan Veronski, Giselle Hazan, Doron Nissim, Ori Linial, Eran Hymes, Ohad Hatozfe, Mark Katz, Gal Bismuth, Mati Dinur, Ron Efrat, Yoav Motro, Sveta Weismann, Ron Elazari, Ehud Katzir, Hadar Yosifon, Darren Burns, Snir Halle, Yael Lehnardt, Gonen Bahir, Asaf Kaplan, Zehava Siegal, Amir Shafir, Hala Kasis, Imam Hussain, Mohammad Rafi, Deven Mehta, Hareendra Baraiya, Sarabjeet and Ankita Bhatt. We thank three anonymous referees and the editor, Mike Webster, for their thorough and constructive review. This work was supported by the Tel Aviv University Global Research & and Training Fellowship in Medical and Life Sciences (GRTF) fund, The Smaller-Winnikow Fellowship Fund for Environmental Research, The Rieger Foundation?Jewish National Fund fellowship, and the Heredity Fieldwork Grant of the Genetics Society U.K. This research was also supported by Grant No. 2017285 (to R.D. and M.E.H.) from The United States?Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF). R.S.K. and M.N. received an inhouse grant from the Wildlife Institute of India for undertaking fieldwork in India.
Funding Information:
We thank Manju Siliwal for her invaluable contribution; Andrea Griffin for her guidance and helpful advice; Francoise Lermite for her support and help with statistical analysis; Shahar Zanzuri, Lior Davis and Daniel Yagoda for their help with data analysis; Ori Peleg for his help with study design; and Srinivas Yellapau for his help with molecular lab work. We thank the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) and Uttarakhand State Forest Department for providing permits. We particularly thank Dr Dhananjai Mohan, Dr V. B. Mathur and Dr G. S. Rawat for providing support in undertaking the study in India. We also thank the numerous individuals who helped capture and care for birds including Yotam Ghendler, Eyal Deri, Yonatan Veronski, Giselle Hazan, Doron Nissim, Ori Linial, Eran Hymes, Ohad Hatozfe, Mark Katz, Gal Bismuth, Mati Dinur, Ron Efrat, Yoav Motro, Sveta Weismann, Ron Elazari, Ehud Katzir, Hadar Yosifon, Darren Burns, Snir Halle, Yael Lehnardt, Gonen Bahir, Asaf Kaplan, Zehava Siegal, Amir Shafir, Hala Kasis, Imam Hussain, Mohammad Rafi, Deven Mehta, Hareendra Baraiya, Sarabjeet and Ankita Bhatt. We thank three anonymous referees and the editor, Mike Webster, for their thorough and constructive review. This work was supported by the Tel Aviv University Global Research & and Training Fellowship in Medical and Life Sciences (GRTF) fund , The Smaller-Winnikow Fellowship Fund for Environmental Research, The Rieger Foundation– Jewish National Fund fellowship, and the Heredity Fieldwork Grant of the Genetics Society U.K. This research was also supported by Grant No. 2017285 (to R.D. and M.E.H.) from The United States–Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) . R.S.K. and M.N. received an inhouse grant from the Wildlife Institute of India for undertaking fieldwork in India.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords
- adaptive flexibility hypothesis
- behavioural flexibility
- common myna
- innovation
- invasive species
- neophobia