Ecological niche transferability using invasive species as a case study

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Biogeography
• Conservation Biology

Background:

• Species distribution modeling (SDM) is crucial for predicting invasive species spread and climate change impacts.
• Accurate SDMs rely on the assumption of ecological niche conservatism (spatial or temporal transferability).
• Understanding niche conservatism is vital for effective invasive species management and climate change adaptation strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a multi-taxon comparative analysis of ecological niche conservatism.
• To assess the spatial transferability of climatic niches for terrestrial invasive species.
• To evaluate the predictive power of native niches for invaded ranges and potential climate-driven range shifts.

Main Methods:

• Compared native and invasive ranges in environmental space using Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and Mahalanobis distance.
• Compared native and invaded ranges in geographic space using Maxent species distribution modeling and Hellinger's I index.
• Utilized data from natural history museum collections documenting biological invasion events.

Main Results:

• Observed a spectrum of niche transferability responses among invasive species, from complete overlap to complete dissociation.
• Identified intermediate responses including niche expansion along temperature or precipitation gradients.
• Demonstrated that native ecological niches are generally poor predictors of invaded ranges.

Conclusions:

• The assumption of ecological niche conservatism is often violated for invasive species.
• Native ecological niches may be unreliable predictors of future range shifts under climate change.
• Assessing niche transferability dimensions before SDM can enhance predictions of species dynamics in novel environments.