1. Importance of competition mechanisms in successive invasions by polyphagous tephritids in La Reunion
- Author
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Pierre François Duyck, Caroline Brunel, Raphaël Dupont, Patrice David, Serge Quilici, and Guillemette Junod
- Subjects
media_common.quotation_subject ,Infestation ,Organisme indigène ,Population Dynamics ,Introduced species ,Insecte déprédateur des fruits ,Competition (biology) ,Species Specificity ,Tephritidae ,Bactrocera ,Animals ,Endemism ,Compétition biologique ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Ecosystem ,media_common ,Expérimentation ,biology ,Ecology ,Ceratitis rosa ,Comportement ,Pupa ,Interspecific competition ,Ceratitis capitata ,biology.organism_classification ,H10 - Ravageurs des plantes ,Fruit ,Larva ,Female ,Organisme nuisible ,Reunion ,Espèce envahissante - Abstract
Undestanding the strength and modes of interspecific interactions between introduced and resident species (native or previously introduced) is necessary to predict invasion success. We evaluated different mechanisms of interspecific competition among four species of polyphagous fruit flies (Diptera : Tephritidae) from the island of la Réunion : one endemic species, #Ceratitis catoirii#, and three exotic species, #C. capitata#, #C. rosa# and #Bactrocera zonata#, that have successively invaded the island. Larval competition experiments, i.e, co-infestations of the same fruit, and behavioral interference experiments measuring the ability of one female to displace another from a fruit, were performed among all pairs of the four species. We observed asymmetric and hierarchical interactions among species in both larval and adult interference competition. In agreement with the hypothesis that invasion is competition-limited, the competitive hierarchy coincided with the temporal sequence of establishment on the island, i.e., each newly established species tended to be competitively dominant over previously established ones.
- Published
- 2006