TY - JOUR

T1 - Traits across trophic levels interact to influence parasitoid establishment in biological control releases

AU - Jarrett, Benjamin

AU - Szucs, Marianna

PY - 2022/3/10

Y1 - 2022/3/10

N2 - A central goal in ecology is to predict what governs a species’ ability to establish in a new environment. One mechanism driving establishment success is individual spe- cies’ traits, but the role of trait combinations among interacting species across differ- ent trophic levels is less clear. Deliberate or accidental species additions to existing communities provide opportunities to study larger scale patterns of establishment success. Biological control introductions are especially valuable because they con- tain data on both the successfully established and unestablished species. Here, we used a recent dataset of importation biological control introductions to explore how life-history traits of 132 parasitoid species and their herbivorous hosts interact to affect parasitoid establishment. We find that of five parasitoid and herbivore traits investigated, one parasitoid trait—host range—weakly predicts parasitoid establish- ment; parasitoids with higher levels of phylogenetic specialization have higher estab- lishment success, though the effect is marginal. In addition, parasitoids are more likely to establish when their herbivore host has had a shorter residence time. Interestingly, we do not corroborate earlier findings that gregarious parasitoids and endoparasitoids are more likely to establish. Most importantly, we find that life-history traits of the parasitoid species and their hosts can interact to influence establishment. Specifically, parasitoids with broader host ranges are more likely to establish when the herbivore they have been released to control is also more of a generalist. These results provide insight into how multiple species’ traits and their interactions, both within and across trophic levels, can influence establishment of species of higher trophic levels.

AB - A central goal in ecology is to predict what governs a species’ ability to establish in a new environment. One mechanism driving establishment success is individual spe- cies’ traits, but the role of trait combinations among interacting species across differ- ent trophic levels is less clear. Deliberate or accidental species additions to existing communities provide opportunities to study larger scale patterns of establishment success. Biological control introductions are especially valuable because they con- tain data on both the successfully established and unestablished species. Here, we used a recent dataset of importation biological control introductions to explore how life-history traits of 132 parasitoid species and their herbivorous hosts interact to affect parasitoid establishment. We find that of five parasitoid and herbivore traits investigated, one parasitoid trait—host range—weakly predicts parasitoid establish- ment; parasitoids with higher levels of phylogenetic specialization have higher estab- lishment success, though the effect is marginal. In addition, parasitoids are more likely to establish when their herbivore host has had a shorter residence time. Interestingly, we do not corroborate earlier findings that gregarious parasitoids and endoparasitoids are more likely to establish. Most importantly, we find that life-history traits of the parasitoid species and their hosts can interact to influence establishment. Specifically, parasitoids with broader host ranges are more likely to establish when the herbivore they have been released to control is also more of a generalist. These results provide insight into how multiple species’ traits and their interactions, both within and across trophic levels, can influence establishment of species of higher trophic levels.

U2 - 10.1002/ece3.8654

DO - 10.1002/ece3.8654

M3 - Article

VL - 12

SP - e8654

JO - Ecology and Evolution

JF - Ecology and Evolution

SN - 2045-7758

ER -