Dispersal movements of non-native and native terrestrial slugs in an urban environment

Animal movement varies from undirected dispersal to directed migration. Movement rates may have implications for conservation and resource management, as well as pest control, and they play a key role in invasion success. In slugs, long-distance dispersal is typically passive, whereas active movement is critical for local dispersal and determines access to resources such as food and shelter. Telemetry has recently been used to study individual slug movements in the wild, whereas movement in arena tests has explored mechanisms of interspecific competition and invasiveness in slugs. Studies that relate the performance of individual slugs in arena tests to their post-release behavior in nature are lacking. We measured individual short-term movement speed of commonly occurring native and non-native slugs of the genera Arion and Limax in arena tests and tracked their post-release dispersal movements in a garden by PIT telemetry. We demonstrate clear differences in movement behavior among the species, but non-native slugs did not display higher movement rates than their native congeners. In the arena test, slugs of the genus Limax displayed a higher short-term speed than slugs of the genus Arion, whereas in the field, individuals of Limax maximus showed lower dispersal rates compared to the other slug species. Moreover, there was a positive correlation between short-term speed in the arena test and movement in the field among individuals of L. cinereoniger, indicating the possible existence of behavioral syndromes in slugs, which may link movement ecology, animal personality, and the invasion ecology of pest species.

Automated summary

Animal movement varies from undirected dispersal to directed migration, and movement rates have implications for various aspects including conservation and invasion success. This study investigated slug movements using arena tests and telemetry, revealing species differences and the existence of behavioral syndromes that may be linked to movement ecology, animal personality, and invasion ecology of pest species.