1
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The impact of the invasive tree Cedrela odorota on the Electric Blue Gecko (Lygodactylus williamsi) and its habitat (Pandanus rabaiensis) in Kimboza Forest Reserve, Tanzania. Glob Ecol Conserv 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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2
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Donnelly A, Yu R. Temperate deciduous shrub phenology: the overlooked forest layer. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOMETEOROLOGY 2021; 65:343-355. [PMID: 31209600 DOI: 10.1007/s00484-019-01743-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2019] [Revised: 04/30/2019] [Accepted: 06/04/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Temperate deciduous shrub phenology plays a pivotal role in forest ecology by regulating the timing of suitable habitat and food of a range of organisms as well as influencing the timing and duration of the carbon uptake period especially in early spring and late autumn when trees are leafless. However, given the overwhelming influence of canopy trees on forest ecosystem functioning, shrubs are often ignored in ecosystem modeling. Isolating the shrub contribution to C flux or satellite-derived forest phenology is challenging. In addition, since shrubs are more likely to be invasive than trees, future changes to shrub species composition are likely, with consequent implications for both over- and understory species composition and ecosystem functioning. Surprisingly, given their multifaceted role, our review revealed that studies on temperate deciduous shrub phenology are limited with the majority focusing on managing invasive shrubs in USA forests. In addition, results of some studies using a large number of species from a range of geographical locations suggested that, in general, invasive shrubs leafed out earlier and retained leaves longer than native species. However, this may not be directly applicable to local conditions with a smaller range of locally adapted species. Therefore, in order to fully understand the role of shrub phenology in temperate deciduous forests, in terms of invasive species, response to climate change and subsequent influence on C balance it will be necessary to establish phenological monitoring sites in which both tree and shrub phenology are recorded concurrently across a range of geographical locations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison Donnelly
- Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, 53201, USA.
| | - Rong Yu
- School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA
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3
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Stewart PS, Hill RA, Stephens PA, Whittingham MJ, Dawson W. Impacts of invasive plants on animal behaviour. Ecol Lett 2021; 24:891-907. [PMID: 33524221 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2020] [Revised: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 12/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
The spread of invasive species is a threat to ecosystems worldwide. However, we know relatively little about how invasive species affect the behaviour of native animals, even though behaviour plays a vital role in the biotic interactions which are key to understanding the causes and impacts of biological invasions. Here, we explore how invasive plants - one of the most pervasive invasive taxa - impact the behaviour of native animals. To promote a mechanistic understanding of these behavioural impacts, we begin by introducing a mechanistic framework which explicitly considers the drivers and ecological consequences of behavioural change, as well as the moderating role of environmental context. We then synthesise the existing literature within this framework. We find that while some behavioural impacts of invasive plants are relatively well-covered in the literature, others are supported by only a handful of studies and should be explored further in the future. We conclude by identifying priority topics for future research, which will benefit from an interdisciplinary approach uniting invasion ecology with the study of animal behaviour and cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter S Stewart
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Russell A Hill
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
| | | | - Mark J Whittingham
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK
| | - Wayne Dawson
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
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4
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Response of reptiles to weed-control and native plant restoration in an arid, grass-invaded landscape. Glob Ecol Conserv 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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5
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Maigret TA, Cox JJ, Weisrock DW. A spatial genomic approach identifies time lags and historical barriers to gene flow in a rapidly fragmenting Appalachian landscape. Mol Ecol 2020; 29:673-685. [PMID: 31981245 DOI: 10.1111/mec.15362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2019] [Revised: 01/03/2020] [Accepted: 01/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The resolution offered by genomic data sets coupled with recently developed spatially informed analyses are allowing researchers to quantify population structure at increasingly fine temporal and spatial scales. However, both empirical research and conservation measures have been limited by questions regarding the impacts of data set size, data quality thresholds and the timescale at which barriers to gene flow become detectable. Here, we used restriction site associated DNA sequencing to generate a 2,140 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data set for the copperhead snake (Agkistrodon contortrix) and address the population genomic impacts of recent and widespread landscape modification across an ~1,000-km2 region of eastern Kentucky, USA. Nonspatial population-based assignment and clustering methods supported little to no population structure. However, using individual-based spatial autocorrelation approaches we found evidence for genetic structuring which closely follows the path of a historically important highway which experienced high traffic volumes from c. 1920 to 1970 before losing most traffic to a newly constructed alternative route. We found no similar spatial genomic signatures associated with more recently constructed highways or surface mining activity, although a time lag effect may be responsible for the lack of any emergent spatial genetic patterns. Subsampling of our SNP data set suggested that similar results could be obtained with as few as 250 SNPs, and a range of thresholds for missing data exhibited limited impacts on the spatial patterns we detected. While we were not able to estimate relative effects of land uses or precise time lags, our findings highlight the importance of temporal factors in landscape genetics approaches, and suggest the potential advantages of genomic data sets and fine-scale, spatially informed approaches for quantifying subtle genetic patterns in temporally complex landscapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas A Maigret
- Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.,Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
| | - John J Cox
- Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
| | - David W Weisrock
- Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
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6
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Garcia RA, Clusella-Trullas S. Thermal landscape change as a driver of ectotherm responses to plant invasions. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20191020. [PMID: 31238850 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
A growing body of research demonstrates the impacts of invasive alien plants on native animals, but few studies consider thermal effects as a driver of the responses of native organisms. As invasive alien plants establish and alter the composition and arrangement of plant communities, the thermal landscapes available to ectotherms also change. Our study reviews the research undertaken to date on the thermal effects of alien plant invasions on native reptiles, amphibians, insects and arachnids. The 37 studies published between 1970 and early 2019 portray an overall detrimental effect of invasive plants on thermal landscapes, ectothermic individuals' performance and species abundance, diversity and composition. With a case study of a lizard species, we illustrate the use of thermal ecology tools in plant invasion research and test the generality of alien plant effects: changes in thermoregulation behaviour in invaded landscapes varied depending on the level of invasion and lizard traits. Together, the literature review and case study show that thermal effects of alien plants on ectotherms can be substantial albeit context-dependent. Further research should cover multiple combinations of native/invasive plant growth forms, invasion stages and ectotherm traits. More attention is also needed to test causality along the chain of effects from thermal landscapes to individuals, populations and communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raquel A Garcia
- Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University , Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602 , South Africa
| | - Susana Clusella-Trullas
- Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University , Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602 , South Africa
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7
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Markle CE, Chow-Fraser P. Effects of European common reed on Blanding's turtle spatial ecology. J Wildl Manage 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.21435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Chantel E. Markle
- Department of Biology; McMaster University; 1280 Main Street W Hamilton Ontario L8S 4K1 Canada
| | - Patricia Chow-Fraser
- Department of Biology; McMaster University; 1280 Main Street W Hamilton Ontario L8S 4K1 Canada
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Tetzlaff SJ, Carter ET, DeGregorio BA, Ravesi MJ, Kingsbury BA. To forage, mate, or thermoregulate: Influence of resource manipulation on male rattlesnake behavior. Ecol Evol 2017; 7:6606-6613. [PMID: 28861261 PMCID: PMC5574792 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2016] [Revised: 05/30/2017] [Accepted: 05/31/2017] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Male animals should preferentially allocate their time to performing activities that promote enhancing reproductive opportunity, but the need to acquire resources for growth and survival may compete with those behaviors in the short term. Thus, behaviors which require differing movement patterns such as ambushing prey and actively searching for mates can be mutually exclusive. Consequently, males that succeed at foraging could invest greater time and energy into mate searching. We radio-tracked sixteen male massasauga rattlesnakes (Sistrurus catenatus) and supplemented the diets of half the snakes with mice across an active season. We tested the predictions that reduced foraging needs would allow fed snakes to move (i.e., mate search) more, but that they would consequently be stationary to thermoregulate less, than unfed controls. Contrary to our first prediction, we found no evidence that fed snakes altered their mate searching behavior compared to controls. However, we found controls maintained higher body temperatures than fed snakes during the breeding season, perhaps because fed snakes spent less time in exposed ambush sites. Fed snakes had higher body condition scores than controls when the breeding season ended. Our results suggest the potential costs incurred by devoting time to stationary foraging may be outweighed by the drive to increase mating opportunities. Such instances may be especially valuable for massasaugas and other temperate reptiles that can remain inactive for upwards of half their lives or longer in some cases, and for female rattlesnakes that generally exhibit biennial or more protracted reproductive cycles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sasha J Tetzlaff
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Urbana IL USA
| | - Evin T Carter
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Tennessee Knoxville TN USA
| | - Brett A DeGregorio
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Urbana IL USA.,US Army ERDC-CERL Champaign IL USA
| | - Michael J Ravesi
- Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Grayling MI USA
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Putman BJ, Clark RW. Behavioral thermal tolerances of free-ranging rattlesnakes ( Crotalus oreganus ) during the summer foraging season. J Therm Biol 2017; 65:8-15. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2017.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2016] [Revised: 01/04/2017] [Accepted: 01/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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10
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Carter ET, Ravesi MJ, Eads BC, Kingsbury BA. Invasive plant management creates ecological traps for snakes. Biol Invasions 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-016-1289-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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11
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Schreuder E, Clusella-Trullas S. Exotic trees modify the thermal landscape and food resources for lizard communities. Oecologia 2016; 182:1213-1225. [PMID: 27670415 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-016-3726-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2015] [Accepted: 09/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Increasing numbers of invasive plant species are establishing around the globe, and these species frequently form dense stands that alter habitat structure in critical ways. Nevertheless, little is known about the mechanisms underlying the impacts of invasive alien plant species on native fauna. We first ask whether alien pine trees impact lizard species richness in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa, a world-renowned biodiversity hotspot, by examining differences in lizard species richness, abundance, and diversity between native mountain fynbos and exotic pine tree-dominated habitats. We then examine two mutually non-exclusive processes: (i) changes in the thermal quality of the habitat and (ii) changes in the availability of food resources, to explain differences in lizard assemblages among habitat types. Lizard richness, abundance, and diversity were greater in fynbos habitat than in fynbos heavily invaded by pine and in pine plantations. The thermal quality of the environment and food resources was consistently higher in native fynbos than in pine forests, but these responses were more varied when comparisons were made along an invasion gradient and among seasons. Our results suggest that management strategies must consider spatially and temporally detailed measurements of thermal regimes and resources to assess the impacts of invasive vegetation on reptile diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Schreuder
- Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Stellenbosch, 7602, South Africa
| | - S Clusella-Trullas
- Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Stellenbosch, 7602, South Africa.
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