ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2022
A single introduction of wild rabbits triggered the biological invasion of Australia.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Genomic investigations of successful invasions: the picture emerging from recent studies.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Pooled it
- The population structure of invasiveeLife · 2026Article
- Remote sensing reveals that wild herbivores limit senescent vegetation accumulation on dryland conservation reserves.Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America · 2026Article
- The impacts of European arrival on Australian dingoes.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Global drivers of the conservation-invasion paradox.Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology · 2025Article
- Whole-Genome Sequencing-Based Population Genetic Analysis of Wild and Domestic Rabbit Breeds.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Selection against domestication alleles in introduced rabbit populations.Nature ecology & evolution · 2024Article
- Genomic Reconstruction of the Successful Establishment of a Feralized Bovine Population on the Subantarctic Island of Amsterdam.Molecular biology and evolution · 2024Article
- Boundary Effects Cause False Signals of Range Expansions in Population Genomic Data.Molecular biology and evolution · 2024Article
- The genetic signature left by the range expansion of red foxes in Australia is detectable after more than 80 years of population stability.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- Population status and genetic assessment of mugger (Crocodylus palustris) in a tropical regulated river system in North India.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Assessing the invasive potential of different source populations of ragweed (Evolutionary applications · 2024Article
- Out of East Asia: Early Warning of the Possible Invasion of the Important Bean Pest Stalk-Eyed Seed BugInsects · 2023Article
- Assessment of genetic diversity among native Algerian rabbit populations using microsatellite markers.Archives animal breeding · 2023Article
- Article
- A single introduction of wild rabbits triggered the biological invasion of Australia.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Article
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10 authors.
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Abstract
Biological invasions are a major cause of environmental and economic disruption. While ecological factors are key determinants of their success, the role of genetics has been more challenging to demonstrate. The colonization of Australia by the European rabbit is one of the most iconic and devastating biological invasions in recorded history. Here, we show that despite numerous introductions over a 70-y period, this invasion was triggered by a single release of a few animals that spread thousands of kilometers across the continent. We found genetic support for historical accounts that these were English rabbits imported in 1859 by a settler named Thomas Austin and traced the origin of the invasive population back to his birthplace in England. We also find evidence of additional introductions that established local populations but have not spread geographically. Combining genomic and historical data we show that, contrary to the earlier introductions, which consisted mostly of domestic animals, the invasive rabbits had wild ancestry. In New Zealand and Tasmania, rabbits also became a pest several decades after being introduced. We argue that the common denominator of these invasions was the arrival of a new genotype that was better adapted to the natural environment. These findings demonstrate how the genetic composition of invasive individuals can determine the success of an introduction and provide a mechanism by which multiple introductions can be required for a biological invasion.
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