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The bioinvasion of Guam: inferring geographic origin, pace, pattern and process of an invasive lizard (Carlia) in the Pacific using multi-locus genomic data

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Abstract

Invasive species often have dramatic negative effects that lead to the deterioration and loss of biodiversity frequently coupled with the burden of expensive biocontrol programs and subversion of socioeconomic stability. The fauna and flora of oceanic islands are particularly susceptible to invasive species and the increase of global movements of humans and their products since WW II has caused numerous anthropogenic translocations and increased the ills of human-mediated invasions. We use a multi-locus genomic dataset to identify geographic origin, pace, pattern and historical process of an invasive scincid lizard (Carlia) that has been inadvertently introduced to Guam, the Northern Marianas, and Palau. This lizard is of major importance as its introduction is thought to have assisted in the establishment of the invasive brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis) on Guam by providing a food resource. Our findings demonstrate multiple waves of introductions that appear to be concordant with movements of Allied and Imperial Japanese forces in the Pacific during World War II.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the people from the many different village communities where we were given the privilege to conduct fieldwork on their land. We thank B. Roy, V. Kula, and B. Wilmot from the PNG Department of Environment and Conservation, J. Robins from the PNG National Research Institute. Jim Animiato, Ilaiah Bigilale, and Bulisa Iova from the PNG National Museum provided research assistance in Papua New Guinea. Robert Reed kindly provided samples from the Marianas and Ben Evans and Iqbal Setiadi kindly provided samples from Halmahera. Ken Tighe provided information on dates of first collections and discussions with Ron Crombie provided valuable information. This manuscript was improved from comments from the Austin lab group and Leslie Austin. Fieldwork by GZ in PNG was supported by the Smithsonian Research Awards Program and subsequent museum studies of Carlia by the Smithsonian’s Scholarly Studies Program and Research Opportunities Awards. Research was carried out under LSU IACUC protocol 06-071. This research was funded by National Science Foundation grants DEB 0445213 and DBI 0400797 to CCA.

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Correspondence to Christopher C. Austin.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 3.

Table 3 Voucher catalog numbers, collection localities, and Genbank accession numbers for specimens included in this study

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Austin, C.C., Rittmeyer, E.N., Oliver, L.A. et al. The bioinvasion of Guam: inferring geographic origin, pace, pattern and process of an invasive lizard (Carlia) in the Pacific using multi-locus genomic data. Biol Invasions 13, 1951–1967 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-011-0014-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-011-0014-y

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