Animal behavior: an essential component of invasion biology.

A major challenge of invasion biology lies in the development of a predictive understanding of invasion processes. Attempts to identify the proximate causes of invasion success or to predict rates of spread seldom emphasize behavioral characteristics. Recent experimental work, however, illustrates that insight into the proximate causes of animal invasions often hinges on a careful assessment of behavioral mechanisms. For this reason, behavioral analyses should be more fully integrated into research on biological invasions. In addition to enhancing a general understanding of invasion processes, such approaches provide potentially underused opportunities for basic research in animal behavior.