Urban colonization of invasive species on islands: Mus musculus and Rattus rattus genetics of establishment on Cozumel island

Abstract

Humans and wildlife experience complex interactions in urban ecosystems, favoring the presence of commensal species, among which invasive species are particularly successful. Rodents are the main vertebrate group introduced to oceanic islands, where the invasion process and dispersal patterns strongly influence their evolutionary and genetic patterns. We evaluated the house mouse Mus musculus and the black rat Rattus rattus on Cozumel island, Mexico. We assessed genetic diversity and structure, connectivity, gene flow, relatedness and bottleneck signals based on microsatellite loci. Our findings show that the constant introduction of individuals of different origins to the island promotes high allelic diversity and the effective establishment of migrants. We identified a clear genetic structure and low connectivity for the two species, tightly linked with anthropogenic and urban features. Moreover, we found M. musculus has a particularly restricted distribution within the city of San Miguel Cozumel, whilst its genetic structure is associated with the historical human population growth pulses accompanying the urbanization of the city. At the fine-scale genetic level, the main urban drivers of connectivity of the house mouse were both the impervious land surfaces, i.e. the urban landscape, and the informal commerce across the city (a proxy of resources availability). Chances of a secondary invasion to natural environments have been relatively low, which is crucial for the endemic taxa of the island. Nonetheless, improving urban planning to regulate future expansions of San Miguel Cozumel is of the outmost importance in order to prevent these invasive species to disperse further.