DOI: 10.5061/dryad.54p64
title: Data from: Linking niche theory to ecological impacts of successful invaders: insights from resource fluctuation-specialist herbivore interactions

description: 1. Theories of species coexistence and invasion ecology are fundamentally
 connected and provide a common theoretical framework for studying the
 mechanisms underlying successful invasions and their ecological impacts.
 Temporal fluctuations in resource availability and differences in
 life-history traits between invasive and resident species are considered
 as likely drivers of the dynamics of invaded communities. Current critical
 issues in invasion ecology thus relate to the extent to which such
 mechanisms influence coexistence between invasive and resident species,
 and to the ability of resident species to persist in an invasive-dominated
 ecosystem. 2. We tested how a fluctuating resource and species traits
 differences may explain and help predict long-term impacts of biological
 invasions in forest specialist insect communities. We used a simple
 invasion system comprising closely related invasive and resident
 seed-specialized wasps (Hymenoptera: Torymidae) competing for a well-known
 fluctuating resource, and displaying divergent diapause, reproductive and
 phenological traits. 3. Based on extensive long-term field observations
 (1977-2010), we developed a combination of mechanistic and statistical
 models aiming to (i) obtain a realistic description of the population
 dynamics of these interacting species over time, and (ii) clarify the
 respective contributions of fluctuation-dependent and
 fluctuation-independent mechanisms to long-term impact of invasion on the
 population dynamics of the resident wasp species. 4. We showed that a
 fluctuation-dependent mechanism was unable to promote coexistence of the
 resident and invasive species. Earlier phenology of the invasive species
 was the main driver of invasion success, enabling the invader to exploit
 an empty niche. Phenology also had the greatest power to explain the
 long-term negative impact of the invasive on the resident species, through
 resource preemption. 5. This study provides strong support for the
 critical role of species differences in interspecific competition outcomes
 within animal communities. Our mechanisticstatistical approach allows
 disentangling the critical drivers of the dynamics of coexistence and
 exclusion within novel species assemblages, following both intentional and
 non-intentional species introductions.
description: Dataset of seed
 infestation rates sampled on 32 sites from 1977 to 2010.These data were entirely
 used for the descriptive analysis and partially used for parameter
 estimation. We indicated the year and the site of record, the number of
 cones sampled, the total number of seeds in cones, the number of
 parasitized seeds in cones, the global seed infestation rate, the total
 number of M. pinsapinis emerged, the total number of M. schimitscheki
 emerged, the contribution of M. pinsapinis and M. schimitscheki to the
 global SIR. The total number of adults emerged was observed from 1999 to
 2007 and was estimated from diapause pattern for cohorts from 2008 to
 2010.SIRs.xlsCone production index estimated on 27 sites from 2006 to 2012Cone production index estimated on 27 sites from 2006 to 2012 and used for parameter estimation. The 11 sites used for the fructification model appear in bold. Note that Saint-André is the only site used for the fructification model but not for parameter estimation.Cone_production_index.xls