Invasive species are a major threat to biodiversity worldwide, causing many of the recent declines and extinctions of native species. Competition is a common mechanism through which invasive species impact the native biota. In particular, exploitative competition results when the invader outcompetes native species for essential resources, such as food and shelter sites. Despite being pervasive invaders, the ecological impacts of invasive lizards are understudied and it is often unknown whether these invaders have detrimental impacts. The plague skink (Lampropholis delicata), native to eastern Australia, has invaded several locations throughout the Pacific region (Hawaiian Islands, New Zealand, Lord Howe Island). However, no studies have documented the plague skink as having a negative impact on native species anywhere throughout its introduced range. Here, we conducted a mark‐recapture study in northern New Zealand (Shakespear Regional Park) to investigate whether the plague skink competes with native skink species (Oligosoma aeneum, O. ornatum, O. moco). Though the plague skink has a broader distribution within the study region and occurred across a broader range of habitats, there was substantial range and niche overlap between the plague skink and the three native skink species. Both the absolute capture rates and estimated population size of the plague skink were significantly higher than the three native skink species. Although plague skinks have smaller body sizes well as shorter and narrower heads than the native skink species, there was still considerable scope for dietary overlap among the species. While our study does not provide definitive evidence for competition between the plague skink and native skink species in New Zealand, we clearly demonstrate the presence of the core components required for exploitative competition to occur. Further field‐ and laboratory‐based studies will be required to confirm the existence of exploitative or interference competition by the plague skink in its introduced range.

中文翻译：

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入侵鼠疫石龙子（Lampropholis delicata）是否与新西兰的本地石龙子物种竞争？

外来入侵物种是对全球生物多样性的主要威胁，导致最近许多土著物种的减少和灭绝。竞争是入侵物种影响本地生物群的常见机制。尤其是，当入侵者与本地物种竞争诸如食物和庇护所之类的基本资源时，就会导致剥削性竞争。尽管是入侵者，但入侵蜥蜴的生态影响尚未得到充分研究，这些入侵者是否具有有害影响通常是未知的。瘟疫石龙子（Lampropholis熟食）原产于澳大利亚东部，已入侵了整个太平洋地区（夏威夷群岛，新西兰，豪勋爵群岛）的多个地点。但是，没有研究记录鼠疫石龙子在整个引入范围内对本地物种都具有负面影响。在这里，我们在新西兰北部（莎士比亚地区公园）进行了标记夺回研究，以调查鼠疫石皮是否与本地石皮物种（Oligosoma aeneum，O。ornatum，O。moco）竞争。）。尽管鼠疫石皮在研究区域内分布更广泛，并且分布在更广泛的栖息地中，但鼠疫石皮和三种本土石蜡种类之间存在很大的范围和生态位重叠。鼠疫石龙子的绝对捕获率和估计种群数量均明显高于三种本土石龙子物种。尽管鼠疫石龙鱼的体型比本地石龙鱼的体型更小，头部更短和更窄，但该物种之间在饮食上仍有很大的重叠空间。虽然我们的研究没有提供有关新西兰鼠疫石龙子和本土石龙子树种之间竞争的明确证据，但我们清楚地证明了剥削性竞争发生所必需的核心成分的存在。