Ecological similarity governs non-native fish establishment while human pressure and native diversity shape invasion richness

Biological invasions by non-native fish species pose a major threat to global freshwater ecosystems. However, our understanding of why invaders establish in some communities but not others (i.e., occurrence probability) and why some communities harbor more invaders than others (i.e., invasion richness) remains limited. Here, we combine species- and community-level analyses across taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional dimensions to investigate both the occurrence probability and invasion richness of exotic and translocated fish species across nearly 3000 North American freshwater fish communities. We found that ecological similarity between non-native and native species primarily governed non-native fish establishment, with invaders more likely to succeed when closely related to native species. In contrast, invasion richness was largely promoted by human pressure, while native diversity reduced richness specifically for translocated species. Additionally, both the occurrence and richness of invaders increased toward lower latitudes. Together, these findings highlight the distinct yet complementary roles of environmental filtering, human activities, and biotic interactions in shaping freshwater fish invasions.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science Advances
Published
2025-08-08
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adw4347
Citations
7
Primary Topic
Fish Ecology and Management Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
16.19
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article

Ecological similarity governs non-native fish establishment while human pressure and native diversity shape invasion richness

Cindy Chu, Guohuan Su, Xuejie Wang, Xidong Mu et al.
7 citations
Science Advances
Fish Ecology and Management Studies
16.19
article

Ecological similarity governs non-native fish establishment while human pressure and native diversity shape invasion richness

Cindy Chu, Guohuan Su, Xuejie Wang, Xidong Mu, Nicholas E. Mandrak, M.U. Mohamed Anas, Hong Qian, Lu Shu, Chunlong Liu, Yong Cao, Ross N. Cuthbert, Meng Xu, Pablo A. Tedesco, Jaimie T. A. Dick, Miao Fang, Shaopeng Li, Hui Wei, Dangen Gu, Fandong Yu
article en
7 citations

Abstract

Biological invasions by non-native fish species pose a major threat to global freshwater ecosystems. However, our understanding of why invaders establish in some communities but not others (i.e., occurrence probability) and why some communities harbor more invaders than others (i.e., invasion richness) remains limited. Here, we combine species- and community-level analyses across taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional dimensions to investigate both the occurrence probability and invasion richness of exotic and translocated fish species across nearly 3000 North American freshwater fish communities. We found that ecological similarity between non-native and native species primarily governed non-native fish establishment, with invaders more likely to succeed when closely related to native species. In contrast, invasion richness was largely promoted by human pressure, while native diversity reduced richness specifically for translocated species. Additionally, both the occurrence and richness of invaders increased toward lower latitudes. Together, these findings highlight the distinct yet complementary roles of environmental filtering, human activities, and biotic interactions in shaping freshwater fish invasions.

Science AdvancesVol. 11(32)
Queen's University Belfast (GB), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Illinois State Museum (US), Fisheries and Oceans Canada (CA), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (FR), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US), Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées (FR), University of Toronto (CA), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Scarborough Health Network (CA), Institute of Hydrobiology (CN), Key Laboratory of Guangdong Province (CN), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (CN), Géosciences Environnement Toulouse (FR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences (CN), Ocean University of China (CN), East China Normal University (CN), The University of Winnipeg (CA)
Life in Land
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Fish Ecology and Management Studies
16.19
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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