Itinerant, nomad or invader? A field experiment sheds light on the characteristics of successful dispersers and colonists

Abstract

Many hypotheses in ecology depend upon identifying species that can disperse across landscapes and colonise new habitat patches. Species differ in dispersal ability, yet some good dispersers reach new locations but fail to colonise them (“itinerants”). Additionally, successful colonists may comprise species that routinely disperse and maintain connectivity among locations (“nomads”) as well as species that can also take advantage of new situations (“invaders”). In a previously reported landscape-scale, field experiment that boosted detrital resources in Hughes Ck (south-eastern Australia), species diversity increased at manipulation sites due to successful dispersal and colonisation. The spe..