Where do adaptive shifts occur during invasion? A multidisciplinary approach to unravelling cold adaptation in a tropical ant species invading the Mediterranean area.
Evolution may improve the invasiveness of populations, but it often remains unclear whether key adaptation events occur after introduction into the recipient habitat (i.e. post-introduction adaptation scenario), or before introduction within the native range (i.e. prior-adaptation scenario) or at a primary site of invasion (i.e. bridgehead scenario). We used a multidisciplinary approach to determine which of these three scenarios underlies the invasion of the tropical ant Wasmannia auropunctata in a Mediterranean region (i.e. Israel). Species distribution models (SDM), phylogeographical analyses at a broad geographical scale and laboratory experiments on appropriate native and invasive populations indicated that Israeli populations followed an invasion scenario in which adaptation to cold occurred at the southern limit of the native range before dispersal to Israel. We discuss the usefulness of combining SDM, genetic and experimental approaches for unambiguous determination of eco-evolutionary invasion scenarios.
INRA, UMR1062, CBGP, Montpellier, France.
Olivier
O
Rey
INRA, UMR1062, CBGP, Montpellier, France.
Arnaud
A
Estoup
Department of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, 69978, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Merav
M
Vonshak
INRA, UMR1062, CBGP, Montpellier, France.
Anne
A
Loiseau
CNRS, Station d'Ecologie Expérimentale du CNRS à Moulis, USR. 2936, 09 200, Moulis, France.|CNRS, Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, UMR 5174, 118 route de Narbonne, 31 062, Toulouse Cedex, France.
Simon
S
Blanchet
US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), South American Biological Control Laboratory (SABCL), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Luis
L
Calcaterra
US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), South American Biological Control Laboratory (SABCL), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Lucila
L
Chifflet
INRA, UMR1062, CBGP, Montpellier, France.
Jean-Pierre
JP
Rossi
INRA, UMR1062, CBGP, Montpellier, France.
Gaël J
GJ
Kergoat
INRA, UMR1062, CBGP, Montpellier, France.
Julien
J
Foucaud
CNRS, Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, UMR 5174, 118 route de Narbonne, 31 062, Toulouse Cedex, France.|CNRS, UMR Ecologie des Forets de Guyane (CIRAD, CNRS, AgroParisTech, INRA, UAG), Campus Agronomique, BP 316, 97379, Kourou Cedex, France.
Jérôme
J
Orivel
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (IRSNB/KBIN), Brussels, Belgium.
Maurice
M
Leponce
Smithsonian Institute, Department of Entomology, Natural Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, 20013, USA.
Ted
T
Schultz
INRA, UMR1062, CBGP, Montpellier, France.
Benoit
B
Facon
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003080:Cold Temperature; D058865:Introduced Species; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011157:Population Dynamics