Abstract
Control methods that target specific traits of an invasive species can produce results contrary to the aims of management. If targeted phenotypes exhibit heritability, then it follows that the invasive species could evolve greater resistance to the applied control measures over time. Additional complications emerge if those traits targeted by control are also inversely related to reproductive success. Given this, prudent considerations for invasive species management are to quantify the heritability of traits selected through control measures and gauge their relationship with reproductive success. Herein we provide a case study utilizing long-term field data and a multi-generational pedigree of an experimentally-closed population of brown treesnakes (N = 426; Boiga irregularis) on Guam. We employed an “animal model” to estimate the narrow-sense heritability (h2) for annual body condition, a trait related to both susceptibility to a primary tool used for brown treesnake control (i.e., live-lure traps) and annual reproductive success. Annual body condition displayed significant heritability [h2 = 0.149 (95% highest posterior density interval: 0.059–0.220)]. Considering a negative effect of body condition on susceptibility to trap capture but positive effect on reproductive success, significant heritability of body condition suggests the potential for live-lure traps to lose efficacy over time while also eliciting an undesirable effect on brown treesnake fecundity. Our results highlight the potential for negative repercussions that can stem from management actions, while also serving to underscore the evolutionary implications that are often overlooked but subsumed within invasive species control.
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Data availability
Field data analyzed for this study are available through ScienceBase at https://doi.org/10.5066/P9X1AKVJ. R scripts for performing MCMCglmm diagnostics and significance testing for this study are available at https://github.com/brenna-levine/Brown_Treesnake_Heritability, as are all files and data necessary for replicating analyses and results.
Code availability
See Availability of Data and Materials.
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Acknowledgements
Our research was supported by U.S. Geological Survey RWO42 (MRD and MED), Sigma Xi GIAR (BAL), and two University of Arkansas endowments: Bruker Professor in Life Sciences (MRD), and 21st Century Chair in Global Change (MED). Funding for the USGS agreement was provided by the Department of Interior's Office of Insular Affairs, and by the USGS Invasive Species Program. We thank the Arkansas High Performance Computing Center (AHPCC) for providing computational resources to run the animal models. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
Funding
Our research was supported by: U.S. Geological Survey RWO42 (MRD and MED), Sigma Xi GIAR (BAL), and two University of Arkansas endowments: Bruker Professor in Life Sciences (MRD), and 21st Century Chair in Global Change (MED). Funding for the USGS agreement was provided by the Department of Interior's Office of Insular Affairs, and by the USGS Invasive Species Program.
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MED and MRD secured primary funding for this project. BL, RNR, AAYA, and JAS supervised the collection of field data and DNA samples and curated the Brown Treesnake project database. BAL reconstructed the pedigree, performed data analysis, and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the conceptualization and design of this study and edited and approved the final version of this manuscript.
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All samples and data analyzed were collected with IACUC approval (Colorado State University: protocol #15‐5892A, and University of Arkansas: protocol #16063).
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Levine, B.A., Douglas, M.R., Adams, A.A.Y. et al. Trait heritability and its implications for the management of an invasive vertebrate. Biol Invasions 23, 3447–3456 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-021-02588-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-021-02588-3