title: Unraveling the life history of successful invaders.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain. d.sol@creaf.uab.cat
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sol
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maspons
authors.forename: Miquel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vall-Llosera
authors.forename: Ignasi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bartomeus
authors.forename: Gabriel E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: García-Peña
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Piñol
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Freckleton
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D058865:Introduced Species; D010802:Phylogeny; D011158:Population Growth; D012098:Reproduction