Abstract
Most studies investigating the effect of habitat disturbance on biological invasions aim to evaluate whether disturbance promotes invasion success without identifying underlying mechanisms. However, these mechanisms are key to understand the role of habitat disturbance in biological invasions. Habitat attributes are known to be major determinants of alien plant invasions, but their role in alien animal invasions has been poorly studied, especially in disturbed habitats. To address this gap, we determined if logging can promote the invasion success of an alien slug species complex (Arion subfuscus s.l., hereafter Arion) (1) directly by making the habitat attributes more suitable for it, or (2) indirectly by causing the decline of native sympatric philomycid slugs (hereafter Philomycus), thus allowing Arion to “fill the void” left by native species decline. We surveyed Arion and Philomycus body mass and abundance (two common measures of invasion success), together with 10 habitat attributes, in logged and control stands, in two sites located in the temperate forest of southeastern Canada. Our findings suggest that logging promoted Arion invasion success either directly through logging-induced habitat changes, or indirectly with logging-induced habitat changes leading to Philomycus decline and Arion filling the void left by Philomycus decline. Taken together, our findings provide evidence that the mechanisms promoting Arion invasion success are site-specific. This study also highlights the importance of assessing more than one proxy of invasion success (e.g., abundance, body mass) to better understand the mechanisms associated with successful biological invasions.
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Data availability
The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors kindly thank Émilie Roy and Audrey Sigouin for their assistance in data collection, as well as Émilie Ladent and Samuel Rosner. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for their positive comments and careful review towards improving our manuscript.
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This research was funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT, Grant Number 2016-NC-189930) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC, Grant Number RGPIN-2015-04516). DNA analyses were funded by the Kenauk Institute.
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All authors (Anna Mazaleyrat, Hélène Le Borgne, François Lorenzetti, and Angélique Dupuch) contributed to the study conception and design; Anna Mazaleyrat, Hélène Le Borgne and Angélique Dupuch collected the data; Anna Mazaleyrat and Angélique Dupuch analysed the data and led the writing of the manuscript with Hélène Le Borgne. All authors contributed critically to the drafts and gave final approval for publication.
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Mazaleyrat, A., Le Borgne, H., Lorenzetti, F. et al. Do disturbance-induced habitat changes drive alien species invasion success and native species decline? A case study based on slug species inhabiting managed deciduous forests. Biol Invasions 25, 2343–2359 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-023-03046-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-023-03046-y