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Establishment patterns of non-native insects in New Zealand

Biological Invasions volume 20, pages 1657–1669 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Insects comprise the majority of non-native animal species established around the world. However, geographic biases in knowledge hamper an overall understanding of biological invasions globally. A dataset of accidentally introduced non-native insect species established in New Zealand was compiled from databases, entomological literature, and examination of specimens in the New Zealand Arthropod Collection. For each non-native species, the first recorded location and first recorded date of detection was obtained. Excluding intentionally introduced species, there are 1477 non-native insect species successfully established in New Zealand across 16 orders, 234 families and 1017 genera. Four orders (Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera and Diptera) contributed 77.5% of all established insect species. Herbivores represented the largest feeding guild (47.7%), comprised of polyphagous (48.3%) or oligophagous (39.7%) species. The majority of these species originated in the Australasian (36.7%) and Palearctic regions (24.8%). Regression trees, using a binary recursive partitioning approach, found the number of international tourist arrivals, exotic vegetation cover, and regional gross domestic product were the main factors explaining spatial patterns of recently established species. Gross domestic product best explained temporal patterns of establishment over the last century. Our findings demonstrate that broad-scale analyses of non-native species have important applications for border biosecurity by providing insight into the extent of invasions. In New Zealand, the current trajectory indicates fewer non-native species are establishing annually, suggesting biosecurity efforts are being effective at reducing rates of establishment.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to Robert Hoare, Marie Claude Larivière, Richard Leschen, and Stephen Thorpe, for answering queries of species names, and to Martin Bader for advice on statistical analysis. We acknowledge the support from MBIE core backbone funding to Landcare Research within the ‘Characterising New Zealand’s Land Biota’ Portfolio, MBIE core funding (CO4X1104) to Scion, and the ‘Better Border Biosecurity’ collaboration (www.b3nz.org).

Data accessibility

The list of species and associated data is publically available (https://doi.org/10.7931/J20K26HK) Edney-Browne E, Brockerhoff EG, Ward DF. First records of the establishment of exotic insects in New Zealand https://doi.org/10.7931/j20k26hk.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, PB 92019, Auckland, New Zealand

    Emma Edney-Browne & Darren Ward

  2. Scion (New Zealand Forest Research Institute), PO Box 29237, Riccarton, Christchurch, 8440, New Zealand

    Eckehard G. Brockerhoff

  3. Landcare Research, PB 92170, Auckland, New Zealand

    Darren Ward

Authors
  1. Emma Edney-Browne
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  2. Eckehard G. Brockerhoff
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  3. Darren Ward
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Darren Ward.

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Edney-Browne, E., Brockerhoff, E.G. & Ward, D. Establishment patterns of non-native insects in New Zealand. Biol Invasions 20, 1657–1669 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-017-1652-5

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Keywords

  • Biological invasions
  • Biosecurity
  • Disturbance
  • Globalisation
  • Invasive species
  • Spatial
  • Temporal