Where do adaptive shifts occur during invasion? A multidisciplinary approach to unravelling cold adaptation in a tropical ant species invading the Mediterranean area

OLIVIER REY, ARNAUD ESTOUP, MERAV VONSHAK, ANNE LOISEAU, SIMON BLANCHET, LUIS CALCATERRA, LUCILA CHIFFLET, JEAN-PIERRE ROSSI, GAE¨L J. KERGOAT, JULIEN FOUCAUD, JEROME ORIVEL, MAURICE LEPONCE, TED SCHULTZ, AND BENOIT FACON

ECOLOGY LETTERS

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2012 vol. 15 p. 1266 - 1275

1461-023X

Evolution may improve the invasiveness of populations, but it often remains unclear whether key adaptation events occur after introduction into the recipient habitat (i.e. post-introduction adaptation scenario), or before introduction within the native range (i.e. prior-adaptation scenario) or at a primary site of invasion (i.e. bridgehead scenario). We used a multidisciplinary approach to determine which of these three scenarios underlies the invasion of the tropical ant Wasmannia auropunctata in a Mediterranean region (i.e. Israel). Species distribution models (SDM), phylogeographical analyses at a broad geographical scale and laboratory experiments on appropriate native and invasive populations indicated that Israeli populations followed an invasion scenario in which adaptation to cold occurred at the southern limit of the native range before dispersal to Israel. We discuss the usefulness of combining SDM, genetic and experimental approaches for unambiguous determination of eco-evolutionary invasion scenarios.