Behavioural variation and the success of invasive animals

这个项目旨在测试行为变异是如何影响入侵成功的。入侵物种会造成经济和生态破坏。除非我们知道入侵成功的原因，否则很难采取有针对性的预防措施。行为的作用尚不清楚--特别是物种内个体间的行为差异。利用已知的入侵爬行动物模型，该项目将确定哪些相关行为是可遗传的，因此在引入、建立和传播到新的地点期间受到进化选择的影响。了解为什么一些入侵物种一再成功，而另一些物种却失败，这将有助于改进限制或防止入侵的有害影响的努力。

This project aims to test how behavioural variation affects invasion success. Invasive species can cause economic and ecological damage. Focused preventive measures are difficult unless we know what makes invasions succeed. The role of behaviour is not yet clear – especially inter-individual behavioural variation within species. Using a known invasive reptile model, this project will determine which relevant behaviours are heritable, and therefore subject to evolutionary selection during introduction, establishment, and spread into new locations. Understanding why some invasive species repeatedly succeed while others fail could improve efforts to limit or prevent the harmful effects of invasion.