About this Research Topic
Climate change is causing significant shifts in the geographical distributions of organisms. Invasive species are an integral part of these changes and therefore understanding and predicting invasive species range shifts in the context of environmental warming are crucial topics for ecology and conservation. Recent work has shown that invasive species tend to be more resilient to environmental stressors and may therefore have an advantage over native species in a changing planet. Additionally, climate change is expected to worsen negative effects of invasive species on ecosystems, altering functioning and habitat structure.
A fundamental step, towards improving our predictive abilities of the distribution shifts at the ecological level that involve invasive species, is acquiring an understanding of their ecophysiological and behavioural characteristics. In particular, how these characteristics compare to native counterparts with similar ecological niches. Many invasive species are of tropical original (e.g. in the Mediterranean Sea that originate from the Red sea) and, therefore, they tend to show higher optimal temperatures for performance than native species. Similarly, behavioural differences (e.g. in distribution, habitat selection, feeding) can be fundamental in understanding future changes at the community level. Therefore, characterization of differences in thermal optima and behavioural preferenda can improve the predictive capacity of models projecting future scenarios.
The Research Topic spans a number of areas, from ecophysiology to behaviour and behavioural ecology. This could include laboratory work on, for example, the relationship between metabolic rate and temperature, as well as tolerance to stressors (temperature, acidification, hypoxia), comparing invasive to native species. We are interested in submissions of behavioural and field work on direct competition for resources between invasive species and their native counterparts. From this perspective, manuscripts with various approaches such as physiological measures, behavioural observations, in the lab and/or in the field, coupled with modelling, are particularly welcome as contributions to the Research Topic.
A fundamental step, towards improving our predictive abilities of the distribution shifts at the ecological level that involve invasive species, is acquiring an understanding of their ecophysiological and behavioural characteristics. In particular, how these characteristics compare to native counterparts with similar ecological niches. Many invasive species are of tropical original (e.g. in the Mediterranean Sea that originate from the Red sea) and, therefore, they tend to show higher optimal temperatures for performance than native species. Similarly, behavioural differences (e.g. in distribution, habitat selection, feeding) can be fundamental in understanding future changes at the community level. Therefore, characterization of differences in thermal optima and behavioural preferenda can improve the predictive capacity of models projecting future scenarios.
The Research Topic spans a number of areas, from ecophysiology to behaviour and behavioural ecology. This could include laboratory work on, for example, the relationship between metabolic rate and temperature, as well as tolerance to stressors (temperature, acidification, hypoxia), comparing invasive to native species. We are interested in submissions of behavioural and field work on direct competition for resources between invasive species and their native counterparts. From this perspective, manuscripts with various approaches such as physiological measures, behavioural observations, in the lab and/or in the field, coupled with modelling, are particularly welcome as contributions to the Research Topic.
Keywords: Invasive species, Behaviour, ecophysiology, climate change, environmental stressors
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
