Understanding invasive potential in brown widow spiders

As a result of climate change and human-mediated movement of plants and animals, the establishment of invasive species is increasingly prevalent, with global economic and environmental consequences. Establishment in a new habitat requires successful reproduction in novel environments in the short-term, and successful invasion requires local adaptation in the long-term. Thus, invasive populations may initially be composed of individuals with suites of traits that, together with plastic expression, allow exploitation of a new environment; but more well-established invasions may show different trait distributions and less plasticity. There is insufficient data on temporal patterns in invasive populations to assess the validity of this hypothesis. This proposal includes tests of this hypothesis across multiple invasive populations of the neurotoxic brown widow spider (Latrodectus geometricus), a global invader with established populations of known age across an invasion gradient in Israel. TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

Maydianne Andrade;Andrew Mason

Student:

Partner:

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Toronto

Program: