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Sail or sink: novel behavioural adaptations on water in aerially dispersing species

Hayashi, Morito; Bakkali, Mohammed; Hyde, Alexander; Goodacre, Sara L.

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Authors

Morito Hayashi

Mohammed Bakkali

Alexander Hyde

SARA GOODACRE sara.goodacre@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Genetics



Abstract

© 2015 Hayashi et al. Background: Long-distance dispersal events have the potential to shape species distributions and ecosystem diversity over large spatial scales, and to influence processes such as population persistence and the pace and scale of invasion. How such dispersal strategies have evolved and are maintained within species is, however, often unclear. We have studied long-distance dispersal in a range of pest-controlling terrestrial spiders that are important predators within agricultural ecosystems. These species persist in heterogeneous environments through their ability to re-colonise vacant habitat by repeated long-distance aerial dispersal ("ballooning") using spun silk lines. Individuals are strictly terrestrial, are not thought to tolerate landing on water, and have no control over where they land once airborne. Their tendency to spread via aerial dispersal has thus been thought to be limited by the costs of encountering water, which is a frequent hazard in the landscape. Results: In our study we find that ballooning in a subset of individuals from two groups of widely-distributed and phylogenetically distinct terrestrial spiders (linyphiids and one tetragnathid) is associated with a hitherto undescribed ability of those same individuals to survive encounters with both fresh and marine water. Individuals that showed a high tendency to adopt 'ballooning' behaviour adopted elaborate postures to seemingly take advantage of the wind current whilst on the water surface. Conclusions: The ability of individuals capable of long-distance aerial dispersal to survive encounters with water allows them to disperse repeatedly, thereby increasing the pace and spatial scale over which they can spread and subsequently exert an influence on the ecosystems into which they migrate. The potential for genetic connectivity between populations, which can influence the rate of localized adaptation, thus exists over much larger geographic scales than previously thought. Newly available habitat may be particularly influenced given the degree of ecosystem disturbance that is known to follow new predator introductions.

Citation

Hayashi, M., Bakkali, M., Hyde, A., & Goodacre, S. L. (2015). Sail or sink: novel behavioural adaptations on water in aerially dispersing species. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 15, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-015-0402-5

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 1, 2015
Online Publication Date Jul 3, 2015
Publication Date Jul 3, 2015
Deposit Date Apr 10, 2018
Publicly Available Date Feb 4, 2019
Journal BMC Evolutionary Biology
Electronic ISSN 1471-2148
Publisher Springer Verlag
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 15
Article Number 118
Pages 1-8
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-015-0402-5
Keywords Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1107784
Publisher URL https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4490750/
Contract Date Feb 4, 2019

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