Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36604551›Full record

ArticleNature ecology & evolution2023

Terrestrial invasive species alter marine vertebrate behaviour.

Rachel L Gunn, Cassandra E Benkwitt, Nicholas A J Graham, Ian R Hartley, Adam C Algar, Sally A Keith

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature ecology & evolution, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
4.0field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Assessing responses of reef island seabirds to environmental and anthropogenic drivers.Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Rachel L GunnLancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK. r.gunn2@lancaster.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0001-6196-301X
Cassandra E BenkwittLancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-6756-7958
Nicholas A J GrahamLancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-0304-7467
Ian R HartleyLancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-7592-3921
Adam C AlgarDepartment of Biology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-8095-0097
Sally A KeithLancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-9634-2763
Lancaster University · GBLakehead University · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Human-induced environmental changes, such as the introduction of invasive species, are driving declines in the movement of nutrients across ecosystems with negative consequences for ecosystem function. Declines in nutrient inputs could thus have knock-on effects at higher trophic levels and broader ecological scales, yet these interconnections remain relatively unknown. Here we show that a terrestrial invasive species (black rats, Rattus rattus) disrupts a nutrient pathway provided by seabirds, ultimately altering the territorial behaviour of coral reef fish. In a replicated ecosystem-scale natural experiment, we found that reef fish territories were larger and the time invested in aggression lower on reefs adjacent to rat-infested islands compared with rat-free islands. This response reflected changes in the economic defendability of lower-quality resources, with reef fish obtaining less nutritional gain per unit foraging effort adjacent to rat-infested islands with low seabird populations. These results provide a novel insight into how the disruption of nutrient flows by invasive species can affect variation in territorial behaviour. Rat eradication as a conservation strategy therefore has the potential to restore species interactions via territoriality, which can scale up to influence populations and communities at higher ecological levels.

Indexed as

EcosystemIntroduced SpeciesAggressionAnimalsCoral ReefsFishesHumansRats

Identifiers

PMID36604551
PMCPMC9834043
OpenAlexW4313561981

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.