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The role of life history traits in mammalian invasion success
Ecology Letters
Authors: Isabella Capellini1*, Joanna Baker1,2, William Allen1, Sally Street1, Chris
Venditti2
Description of the data file
The data file contains data on the status of alien (non-native) mammalian species at
the global scale. Here we provide the basic details on the variables in the datafile.
Full details on the protocol for the extraction of the data from the literature,
classification of the species, and references underling the data can be found in the
Supplementary Information of the Ecology Letters paper (Data collection: SI, Section
1.1; Data references: SI, 4.2).
The status of alien mammals have been assessed through information available in
three main sources (Long 2003; DAISIE 2008; IUCN 2013) which have been
integrated, cross-checked and updated with more recent sources (see Sections 1.1.1
and 4.2 of the SI). The total sample size of alien species is 232; we found no
unambiguous record of introduction outside the native range for the remaining 3458
mammalian species.
We quantify the magnitude of introduction effort as the number of unique locations of
introduction a species has been introduced to; these data are available from the
same sources containing information on the status of alien species (SI, Sections
1.1.3 and 2.4).
For all species in the dataset, we extracted data on mean life history traits from the
PanTHERIA database (Jones et al. 2009), complemented with data from Ernest
(2003) and more recent sources for missing value (SI, Section 4.2). We reported the
maximum recorded lifespan for a species as the maximum value among those
recorded (in years) in PanTHERIA (Jones et al. 2009); AnAge (De Magalhaes &
Costa 2009); Ernest (2003), Carey and Judge (2000) or alternative source if
unavailable from these sources (SI, Section 4.2). Where interbirth interval (days) is
available but not litters per year, we convert the former into the latter. Reproductive
lifespan (days) is calculated as the difference between the maximum recorded
lifespan (converted into days) and age at first birth (days). Finally, we compute an
offspring value index as an estimate of current versus future reproductive effort
following previous studies (Bókony et al. 2009; Sol et al. 2012) as:
𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝟏: 𝑂𝑉 =
1
(𝐿𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟) ∗ (𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑛)
Data column description:
Binomial: species Latin name;
Intro (Introduction stage): whether a species has been introduced, accidentally or
intentionally, by humans outside its native range at least once (‘yes’ coded as 1, ‘no’
coded as 0) (SI, section 1.1.1);
Est (Establishment stage): for a species, whether at least one of its alien populations
has successfully established (‘yes’ coded as 1, ‘no’ coded as 0), i.e. it persists in the
novel habitat for a time interval equal or greater than the species’ maximum recorded
lifespan (SI, section 1.1.1):
Spread (Spread stage): for a species, whether at least one of its established alien
populations exhibits a remarkable range expansion beyond the introduction location
(‘yes’ coded as 1, ‘no’ coded as 0) (SI, section 1.1.1);
NoLocs (Number of locations): number of unique introduction locations a species has
been introduced to outside its native range (SI, Section 1.1.3);
LG: maximum recorded lifespan (years);
BM: adult body mass (grams);
GT: gestation time (days);
WA: weaning age (days);
NBM: neonatal body mass (grams);
LS: litter size;
LY: number of litters per year;
AFB: age at first birth;
RL: reproductive lifespan (days);
OV: offspring value index.
References
Bókony, V., Lendvai, Á.Z., Liker, A., Angelier, F., Wingfield, J.C. & Chastel, O.
(2009). Stress Response and the Value of Reproduction: Are Birds Prudent Parents?
Am. Nat., 173, 589–598.
Carey, J.R. & Judge, D.S. (2000). Longevity records. Life spans of mammals, birds,
amphibians, reptiles and fish. Odense University Press, Odense.
DAISIE. (2008). Handbook of Alien Species in Europe. Springer.
De Magalhaes, J.P. & Costa, J. (2009). A database of vertebrate longevity records
and their relation to other life-history traits. J. Evol. Biol., 22, 1770–1774.
Ernest, S.K.M. (2003). Life History Characteristics of Placental Nonvolant Mammals:
Ecological Archives E084-093. Ecology, 84.
IUCN (Ed.). (2013). Global Invasive Species Database (GISD). URL
http://www.issg.org/database/welcome/
Jones, K.E., Bielby, J., Cardillo, M., Fritz, S.A., O'Dell, J., Orme, C.D.L., et al. (2009).
PanTHERIA: a species-level database of life history, ecology, and geography of
extant and recently extinct mammals. Ecology, 90, 2648–2648.
Long, J.L. (2003). Introduced Mammals of the World: Their History, Distribution and
Influence. CABI Publishing.
Sol, D., Maspons, J., Vall-Llosera, M., Bartomeus, I., García-Peña, G.E., Piñol, J., et
al. (2012). Unraveling the life history of successful invaders. Science, 337, 580–583.