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The paradox of invasion in birds: competitive superiority or ecological opportunism?

Overview of attention for article published in Oecologia, December 2011
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2 Wikipedia pages

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221 Mendeley
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Title
The paradox of invasion in birds: competitive superiority or ecological opportunism?
Published in
Oecologia, December 2011
DOI 10.1007/s00442-011-2203-x
Pubmed ID
Authors

Daniel Sol, Ignasi Bartomeus, Andrea S. Griffin

Abstract

Why can alien species succeed in environments to which they have had no opportunity to adapt and even become more abundant than many native species? Ecological theory suggests two main possible answers for this paradox: competitive superiority of exotic species over native species and opportunistic use of ecological opportunities derived from human activities. We tested these hypotheses in birds combining field observations and experiments along gradients of urbanization in New South Wales (Australia). Five exotic species attained densities in the study area comparable to those of the most abundant native species, and hence provided a case for the invasion paradox. The success of these alien birds was not primarily associated with a competitive superiority over native species: the most successful invaders were smaller and less aggressive than their main native competitors, and were generally excluded from artificially created food patches where competition was high. More importantly, exotic birds were primarily restricted to urban environments, where the diversity and abundance of native species were low. This finding agrees with previous studies and indicates that exotic and native species rarely interact in nature. Observations and experiments in the field revealed that the few native species that exploit the most urbanized environments tended to be opportunistic foragers, adaptations that should facilitate survival in places where disturbances by humans are frequent and natural vegetation has been replaced by man-made structures. Successful invaders also shared these features, suggesting that their success is not a paradox but can be explained by their capacity to exploit ecological opportunities that most native species rarely use.

Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 221 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United States 5 2%
Spain 3 1%
Austria 2 <1%
France 1 <1%
Portugal 1 <1%
Brazil 1 <1%
South Africa 1 <1%
New Zealand 1 <1%
Switzerland 1 <1%
Other 4 2%
Unknown 201 91%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 53 24%
Researcher 42 19%
Student > Master 41 19%
Student > Bachelor 21 10%
Other 14 6%
Other 28 13%
Unknown 22 10%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 123 56%
Environmental Science 48 22%
Arts and Humanities 4 2%
Psychology 3 1%
Earth and Planetary Sciences 2 <1%
Other 7 3%
Unknown 34 15%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 3. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 07 August 2023.
All research outputs
#7,722,978
of 23,482,849 outputs
Outputs from Oecologia
#1,716
of 4,281 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#71,067
of 243,950 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Oecologia
#9
of 21 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,482,849 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 44th percentile – i.e., 44% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 4,281 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 7.1. This one is in the 34th percentile – i.e., 34% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 243,950 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 40th percentile – i.e., 40% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 21 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 28th percentile – i.e., 28% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.