| Factors influencing initial population establishment and habitat expansion of introduced nutrias (Myocastor coypus) in South Korea |
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학술지명 Ecological Informatics
저자 김동균
발표일 2020-09-01
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Biological invasions have increased in recent years, as these are facilitated by traffic networks of human infrastructure.Accidental release from the animal industry is an important cause of biological invasions, andallows for the clear determination of the source of non-native species. Such examples of invasion can be beneficialfor studies on the relative importance of local environments by comparing establishment successes fromdifferent sources. Nutrias (Myocastor coypus), originally introduced to South Korea for meat and fur production,escaped from local farms into the wild in the late 1990s. Using ensemble species distribution models (ESDM), weassessed 1) suitable habitat conditions for nutrias, 2) establishment success from different source localities afterthe nutrias' escape from farms, and 3) changes in habitat suitability based on regional climate scenarios. Wefound that the distribution of nutrias was largely influenced by temperature regime (i.e., minimum temperatureduring the winter; 44.1 ± 11.4% of variable contribution in the ESDM) and invasion success of nutrias that hadescaped from different local farms was also related to the local climate conditions. Escaped nutrias were widelyobserved around the farms with favorable habitat conditions. Our model predicted a gradual expansion of habitatssuitable for nutrias; however, core habitats are isolated by high-mountain ridges and watershed boundaries.National campaigns to prevent translocation between different watersheds are important to control furtherexpansion of escaped nutrias. |