Niche conservatism and the invasive potential of the wild boar

1.Niche conservatism, i.e. the retention of a species’ fundamental niche through evolutionary time, is cornerstone for biological invasion assessments. The fact that species tend to maintain their original climate niche allows predictive maps of invasion risk to anticipate potential invadable areas. Unraveling the mechanisms driving niche shifts can shed light on the management of invasive species.

2.Here, we assessed niche shifts in one of the world's worst invasive species: the wild boar Sus scrofa. We also predicted potential invadable areas based on an ensemble of three ecological niche modeling methods, and evaluated the performance of models calibrated with native vs pooled (native plus invaded) species records. By disentangling the drivers of change on the exotic wild boar population's niches, we found strong evidence for niche conservatism during biological invasion.

3.Ecological niche models calibrated with both native and pooled range records predicted convergent areas. ...