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Early colonisation population structure of a Norway rat island invasion

  • Invasive Rodents on Islands
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Abstract

Colonists undergo non-equilibrium processes such as founder effects, inbreeding and changing population size which influence the mating system and demography of a population. Understanding these processes in colonising populations informs management and helps prevent further invasions. We sampled and genotyped most individuals of a Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) reinvasion on Moturemu island (5 ha) in New Zealand. Population size was most likely between 30 and 33 rats. Genetic methods detected a clear bottleneck signal from the founding population. Parentage assignment revealed promiscuous mating dominated by a few individuals with increasing inbreeding, both putatively a result of small island size. Combining ecological and genetic data from a single sample allowed inferences on population structure and functioning. Invading Norway rats rapidly achieve population structure similar to established island populations despite a small number of colonists and associated inbreeding. Overcoming these initial obstacles to population establishment contributes to the global success of invasive rats.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Department of Conservation and performed under the appropriate Department of Conservation research and University of Auckland animal ethics permits. James Russell was supported by a Top Achiever Doctoral Scholarship and an Edward and Isabel Kidson Scholarship. Rachel Fewster was supported by a Marsden grant from the Royal Society of New Zealand. Genetics analysis was made possible by an International Sciences and Technology (ISAT) Linkages grant to James Russell from the Royal Society of New Zealand and support from the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris. The authors would like to thank Holly Jones and Steven Miller for assistance in the field, Dave Towns and Peter Crossley for field transportation, the Department of Conservation Warkworth Area Office and in particular Thelma Wilson for discussion and background documentation and Ngati Whatua. Shirley Pledger assisted with catch-effort modelling, and Paul Murrell with graphics. Scott Baker, Karen Nutt, Dave Towns, Mark Hauber, Charlie Daugherty and two anonymous referees provided useful feedback on the manuscript. Thanks to Don Drake and Terry Hunt for inviting this paper into the Proceedings of the Rats, Humans and Islands conference.

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  1. Jawad Abdelkrim

    Present address: University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand

    James C. Russell & Rachel M. Fewster

  2. Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 43 rue Cuvier, 75003, Paris, France

    Jawad Abdelkrim

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Russell, J.C., Abdelkrim, J. & Fewster, R.M. Early colonisation population structure of a Norway rat island invasion. Biol Invasions 11, 1557–1567 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-008-9406-z

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