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Competitive advantages of the red-billed leiothrix (Leiothrix lutea) invading a passerine community in Europe

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Abstract

The establishment of an introduced species is an important step of the invasion pathway. Often species become established because of their superior competitiveness over the native community or by occupying empty niches. Recently, the red-billed leiothrix Leiothrix lutea has become established in some European natural-woods, which can be quite relevant for nature conservation considering its position among the seven exotic bird species with highest negative impact in bird communities. We assessed which European-native species are more likely to compete with the leiothrix (i.e. potential competitors) based on their structural size and diet composition. Also, we evaluated the competitive advantages of the leiothrix, relatively to its potential competitors, that may allow its successful establishment, considering two approaches: exploratory behaviour and foraging morphology. Two species showed great similarity in structural size with the leiothrix, and also presented great similarity in diet composition, which makes them potential competitors: the robin Erithacus rubecula and the blackcap Sylvia atricapilla. The exploratory behaviour of the leiothrix did not differ from those of its potential competitors. However, the leiothrix presented more efficient foraging morphology than their potential competitors. Our results support the hypothesis of an establishment process by competitive advantage over native species rather than an opportunistic occupation of an empty ecological niche. The establishment of the leiothrix in European natural-habitats, and not in highly disturbed habitats as other invasive species, may constitute a new challenge for conservation.

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Acknowledgements

P. F. P. was supported by a doctoral grant (SFRH/BD/87340/2012), C.G. by a doctoral grant (SFRH/BD/81602/2011) and R. L. by a post-doctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/78241/2011) from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal POPH/QREN). We also thank all team members who helped in the field work, particularly Helder Cardoso, Luísa Catarino, Pedro Salgueiro and Liliana Almeida. We thank an anonymous reviewer for its many comments, which contributed to improve previous versions of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (CIBIO), University of Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal

    Pedro Filipe Pereira & Paulo Gama Mota

  2. Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal

    Pedro Filipe Pereira & Paulo Gama Mota

  3. Labor-Laboratory of Ornithology, Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais Mediterrânicas (ICAAM), Universidade de Évora, Núcleo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7002-554, Évora, Portugal

    Pedro Filipe Pereira, Carlos Godinho & Rui Lourenço

  4. Victor Caeiro Laboratory of Parasitology, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, ECT, Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais Mediterrânicas (ICAAM), Universidade de Évora, Évora, Portugal

    Maria João Vila-Viçosa

Authors
  1. Pedro Filipe Pereira
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  2. Carlos Godinho
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Correspondence to Pedro Filipe Pereira.

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Table 3.

Table 3 Results of the first component of principal component analysis of structural body size using wing, bill and tarsus length of small insectivorous woodland passerines
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Appendix 2

See Table 4.

Table 4 Results of the two first components of principal component analysis of exploratory behaviour of the leiothrix, robin and blackcap
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Appendix 3

See Table 5.

Table 5 Results of the first component of principal component analysis of wing shape using the length of ten primaries of the leiothrix, robin and blackcap
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Pereira, P.F., Godinho, C., Vila-Viçosa, M.J. et al. Competitive advantages of the red-billed leiothrix (Leiothrix lutea) invading a passerine community in Europe. Biol Invasions 19, 1421–1430 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-016-1364-2

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