Introduced marine species get larger in the invaded region

The transport of species outside their native region through human activities has often had a dramatic impact on the ecosystems into which these species are introduced and on the surrounding economies.

The consequences of introduction for the introduced species itself, including changes in body size and shape, are less recognized.

Prior studies of most groups of organisms, including plants, mammals, and lizards show a general pattern whereby some species get smaller after their introduction into a non-native region while other species increase in size.

In contrast, in the next issue of Ecology Letters, Grosholz and Ruiz find that the majority of marine invertebrate species increase in size in the non-native region, with little evidence of decreases generally found in other taxa.

These size increases may have implications for the impacts of these species on native ecosystems.

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