TY - JOUR

T1 - Escape from natural enemies during climate-driven range expansion

T2 - a case study

AU - Menéndez, Rosa

AU - Gonzalez-Megias, Adela

AU - Lewis, Owen T.

AU - Shaw, Mark R.

AU - Thomas, Chris D.

PY - 2008/6

Y1 - 2008/6

N2 - 1. A major, and largely unexplored, uncertainty in projecting the impact of climate change on biodiversity is the consequence of altered interspecific interactions, for example between parasitoids and their hosts. The present study investigated parasitism in the Brown Argus butterfly, Aricia agestis; a species that has expanded northward in Britain during the last 30 years in association with climate warming.2. Aricia agestis larvae suffered lower mortality from parasitoids in newly colonised areas compared with long-established populations. This result was consistent over four consecutive generations (2 years) when comparing one population of each type, and also when several populations within the historical and recently colonised range of the species were compared within a single year. Thus, A. agestis appears to be partially escaping from parasitism as it expands northwards.3. Reduced parasitism occurred despite the fact that several of the parasitoid species associated with A. agestis were already present in the newly colonised areas, supported predominantly by an alternative host species, the Common Blue butterfly, Polyommatus icarus.4. As the species expand their distributions into areas of increased climatic suitability, invasion fronts may escape from natural enemies, enhancing rates of range expansion. The results suggest that the decoupling of interspecific interactions may allow some species to exploit a wider range of environments and to do so more rapidly than previously thought possible.

AB - 1. A major, and largely unexplored, uncertainty in projecting the impact of climate change on biodiversity is the consequence of altered interspecific interactions, for example between parasitoids and their hosts. The present study investigated parasitism in the Brown Argus butterfly, Aricia agestis; a species that has expanded northward in Britain during the last 30 years in association with climate warming.2. Aricia agestis larvae suffered lower mortality from parasitoids in newly colonised areas compared with long-established populations. This result was consistent over four consecutive generations (2 years) when comparing one population of each type, and also when several populations within the historical and recently colonised range of the species were compared within a single year. Thus, A. agestis appears to be partially escaping from parasitism as it expands northwards.3. Reduced parasitism occurred despite the fact that several of the parasitoid species associated with A. agestis were already present in the newly colonised areas, supported predominantly by an alternative host species, the Common Blue butterfly, Polyommatus icarus.4. As the species expand their distributions into areas of increased climatic suitability, invasion fronts may escape from natural enemies, enhancing rates of range expansion. The results suggest that the decoupling of interspecific interactions may allow some species to exploit a wider range of environments and to do so more rapidly than previously thought possible.

KW - Aricia agestis

KW - butterfly

KW - climate change

KW - enemy escape

KW - parasitoids

KW - range expansion

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=43049108042&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/j.1365-2311.2008.00985.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1365-2311.2008.00985.x

M3 - Journal article

VL - 33

SP - 413

EP - 421

JO - Ecological Entomology

JF - Ecological Entomology

SN - 1365-2311

IS - 3

ER -