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Reproductive timing as a constraint on invasion success in the Ring-necked parakeet (Psittacula krameri)

Biological Invasions volume 19, pages 2247–2259 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Climate similarity favors biological invasion, but a match between seasonality in the novel range and the timing of life cycle events of the invader also influences the outcome of species introduction. Yet, phenology effects on invasion success have generally been neglected. Here we study whether a phenological mismatch limits the non-native range of a globally successful invader, the Ring-necked parakeet, in Europe. Given the latitudes at which parakeets have established across Europe, they breed earlier than expected based on breeding dates from the native Asian range. Moreover, comparing the breeding dates of European populations to those of parakeets in the native Asian range, to five native breeding bird species in Europe and to the start of the growing season of four native European trees shows that the discrepancy between expected and actual breeding phenology is greater in northern Europe. In northern European populations, this temporal mismatch appears to have negative effects on hatching success, and on population growth rates in years that are colder than average in the first six months. Phenological mismatch also can explain why parakeets from African populations (that are more likely to breed in autumn) have been poor invaders compared to parakeets from Asia. These lines of evidence support the hypothesis that the reproductive phenology of the Ring-necked parakeet can be a limiting factor for establishment and range expansion in colder climates. Our results provide growing support for the hypothesis that the match between climate seasonality and timing of reproduction (or other important life cycle events) can affect the establishment success, invasive potential and distribution range of introduced non-native species, beyond the mere effect of climate similarity.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Marco van Wieringen for carrying out roost counts in Haarlem, Christopher Rhodes for collecting nesting data in London, NPA rangers for help with roost counts in Israel, and D. Brito, I. Brito and D. Hernández for help with obtaining feather samples on Tenerife. We would like to acknowledge all natural history collections that gave access to their egg collections online or in private, and especially Iris Heynen (Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Stuttgart, Germany) and the National Museum of Scotland. We thank the staff of María Luisa Park for access. The work in London was funded by The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). DS is funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action under the Horizon 2020 call (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015, Grant Number 706318), and acknowledges the Danish National Research Foundation for support to the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate (Grant Number DNRF96). PE was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through grants RYC-2011-07889, CGL-2012-35232, CGL2013-49460-EXP and CGL2016-79483-P, with support from the European Regional Development Fund. We further acknowledge the financial support by COST Action ES1304 (‘ParrotNet’) that facilitated collaboration between the authors. The contents of this manuscript are the authors’ responsibility and neither COST nor any person acting on its behalf is responsible for the use which might be made of the information contained in it.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department Molecular Biology, University Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain

    Alvaro Luna, Dailos Hernández-Brito & Pim Edelaar

  2. Department of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, Seville, Spain

    Alvaro Luna

  3. Bruchstrasse 15, 55263, Wackernheim, Germany

    Detlev Franz

  4. Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Diederik Strubbe

  5. Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Diederik Strubbe

  6. Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Ghent University, KL Ledeganckstraat 32, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Diederik Strubbe

  7. Faculty of Architecture and Town Plaining, Technion, Haifa, Israel

    Assaf Shwartz

  8. Department of Biology, Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 364, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Michael P. Braun

  9. Israel Nature and Park Authority, Rosh Haayin, Israel

    Yariv Malihi & Asaf Kaplan

  10. Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università degli Studi di Siena, Siena, Italy

    Emiliano Mori

  11. Department of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

    Mattia Menchetti

  12. Sovon Dutch Centre for Field Ornithology, PO Box 6521, 6503 GA, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Chris A. M. van Turnhout

  13. Department of Animal Ecology and Ecophysiology, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University, PO Box 9010, 6500 GL, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Chris A. M. van Turnhout

  14. National Wildlife Management Centre, Animal and Plant Health Agency, York, UK

    Dave Parrott

  15. Albrecht Daniel Thaer-Institute, Humboldt-University of Berlin, Albrecht-Thaer-Weg 5, 14195, Berlin, Germany

    Frank-M. Chmielewski

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  1. Alvaro Luna
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Luna, A., Franz, D., Strubbe, D. et al. Reproductive timing as a constraint on invasion success in the Ring-necked parakeet (Psittacula krameri). Biol Invasions 19, 2247–2259 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-017-1436-y

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Keywords

  • Phenology
  • Climate
  • Invasive species
  • Adaptation
  • Urban environment
  • Pet trade
  • Parrots