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Thaker M, Amdekar MS, Mohanty NP, Nageshkumar AK, Prakash H, Seshadri KS. An expanding cityscape and its multi-scale effects on lizard distribution. Front Conserv Sci 2022; 3:fcosc.2022.839836. [PMID: 38558889 PMCID: PMC7615779 DOI: 10.3389/fcosc.2022.839836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Urbanization results in complex and variable changes to environmental conditions, which translate to shifts in selection pressures for organisms. Size of a city as well as the intensity and extent of urbanization can synergistically influence how organisms are impacted. However, less is known about how landscape heterogeneity, rate of land-use change, and scale of urbanization affect species persistence. We evaluate the ways in which urbanization changes the environment and examine how some of these environmental factors influence the presence of the lizard Psammophilus dorsalis (Peninsular rock agama), in Bengaluru, India. Variability in environmental factors across the study area was characterised by measures of habitat composition and diversity, habitat connectivity, rate of habitat change, predation pressure, land surface temperature (LST) and artificial light at night (ALAN), that were derived from remotely sensed and citizen science data. Most of these factors showed high variance across two measures of urbanization: distance from city center and proportion of built-up area. Habitat diversity and ALAN were the only two factors that changed predictably and in a non-linear way, with distance from the city center and proportion of built-up area. We then used a multi-scale approach to examine the relative importance of some these environmental factors at the landscape scale, as well as additional factors at the microhabitat-scale, in predicting the presence and relative abundance of P. dorsalis respectively. At the landscape scale, LST, which is positively correlated with proportion of cropland, predicted lizard presence; whereas at the microhabitat scale, P. dorsalis was more likely to be found in sites with higher proportions of rocks. Overall, we demonstrate that urbanization can result in environmental predictors that do not vary linearly across the urbanization gradient. For the iconic rock agama, many of these environmental factors do not seem to be strong selection pressures that influence their distribution in the expanding cityscape. Whether this urban utilizer can continue to persist with increasing anthropogenic development is uncertain. To better understand drivers of species persistence, we emphasize the importance of quantifying urbanization across multiple axes, considering environmental factors that are relevant to species at different spatial and temporal scales.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Madhura S. Amdekar
- Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India
| | - Nitya P. Mohanty
- Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India
| | | | - Harish Prakash
- Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India
| | - K. S Seshadri
- Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India
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Mohanty NP, Wagener C, Herrel A, Thaker M. The ecology of sleep in non-avian reptiles. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2021; 97:505-526. [PMID: 34708504 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2021] [Revised: 10/10/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Sleep is ubiquitous in the animal kingdom and yet displays considerable variation in its extent and form in the wild. Ecological factors, such as predation, competition, and microclimate, therefore are likely to play a strong role in shaping characteristics of sleep. Despite the potential for ecological factors to influence various aspects of sleep, the ecological context of sleep in non-avian reptiles remains understudied and without systematic direction. In this review, we examine multiple aspects of reptilian sleep, including (i) habitat selection (sleep sites and their spatio-temporal distribution), (ii) individual-level traits, such as behaviour (sleep postures), morphology (limb morphometrics and body colour), and physiology (sleep architecture), as well as (iii) inter-individual interactions (intra- and inter-specific). Throughout, we discuss the evidence of predation, competition, and thermoregulation in influencing sleep traits and the possible evolutionary consequences of these sleep traits for reptile sociality, morphological specialisation, and habitat partitioning. We also review the ways in which sleep ecology interacts with urbanisation, biological invasions, and climate change. Overall, we not only provide a systematic evaluation of the conceptual and taxonomic biases in the existing literature on reptilian sleep, but also use this opportunity to organise the various ecological hypotheses for sleep characteristics. By highlighting the gaps and providing a prospectus of research directions, our review sets the stage for understanding sleep ecology in the natural world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nitya P Mohanty
- Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560 012, India
| | - Carla Wagener
- Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, 7600, South Africa
| | - Anthony Herrel
- Département Adaptations du Vivant, MECADEV UMR7179 CNRS/MNHN, Paris, France
| | - Maria Thaker
- Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560 012, India
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Baxter‐Gilbert J, Baider C, Florens FV, Hawlitschek O, Mohan AV, Mohanty NP, Wagener C, Webster KC, Riley JL. Nocturnal foraging and activity by diurnal lizards: Six species of day geckos (
Phelsuma
spp.) using the night‐light niche. AUSTRAL ECOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/aec.13012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- James Baxter‐Gilbert
- Centre for Invasion Biology Department of Botany and Zoology Stellenbosch University Matieland South Africa
| | - Cláudia Baider
- The Mauritius Herbarium Agricultural Services Ministry of Agro‐Industry and Food Security RéduitMauritius
| | - F.B. Vincent Florens
- Tropical Island Biodiversity, Ecology and Conservation Pole of Research Faculty of Science University of Mauritius Réduit Mauritius
| | | | - Ashwini V. Mohan
- Department of Evolutionary Biology Zoological Institute Braunschweig University of Technology BraunschweigGermany
| | - Nitya P. Mohanty
- Centre for Invasion Biology Department of Botany and Zoology Stellenbosch University Matieland South Africa
| | - Carla Wagener
- Centre for Invasion Biology Department of Botany and Zoology Stellenbosch University Matieland South Africa
| | | | - Julia L. Riley
- Department of Botany and Zoology Stellenbosch University Matieland South Africa
- Department of Biology Dalhousie University Halifax Nova Scotia Canada
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Baxter-Gilbert J, Riley JL, Wagener C, Mohanty NP, Measey J. Shrinking before our isles: the rapid expression of insular dwarfism in two invasive populations of guttural toad ( Sclerophrys gutturalis). Biol Lett 2020; 16:20200651. [PMID: 33202183 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Island ecosystems have traditionally been hailed as natural laboratories for examining phenotypic change, including dramatic shifts in body size. Similarly, biological invasions can drive rapid localized adaptations within modern timeframes. Here, we compare the morphology of two invasive guttural toad (Sclerophrys gutturalis) populations in Mauritius and Réunion with their source population from South Africa. We found that female toads on both islands were significantly smaller than mainland counterparts (33.9% and 25.9% reduction, respectively), as were males in Mauritius (22.4%). We also discovered a significant reduction in the relative hindlimb length of both sexes, on both islands, compared with mainland toads (ranging from 3.4 to 9.0%). If our findings are a result of natural selection, then this would suggest that the dramatic reshaping of an amphibian's morphology-leading to insular dwarfism-can result in less than 100 years; however, further research is required to elucidate the mechanism driving this change (e.g. heritable adaptation, phenotypic plasticity, or an interaction between them).
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Affiliation(s)
- James Baxter-Gilbert
- Centre for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, 7600, South Africa
| | - Julia L Riley
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, 7600, South Africa.,Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 4R2
| | - Carla Wagener
- Centre for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, 7600, South Africa
| | - Nitya P Mohanty
- Centre for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, 7600, South Africa
| | - John Measey
- Centre for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, 7600, South Africa
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Novoa A, Richardson DM, Pyšek P, Meyerson LA, Bacher S, Canavan S, Catford JA, Čuda J, Essl F, Foxcroft LC, Genovesi P, Hirsch H, Hui C, Jackson MC, Kueffer C, Le Roux JJ, Measey J, Mohanty NP, Moodley D, Müller-Schärer H, Packer JG, Pergl J, Robinson TB, Saul WC, Shackleton RT, Visser V, Weyl OLF, Yannelli FA, Wilson JRU. Invasion syndromes: a systematic approach for predicting biological invasions and facilitating effective management. Biol Invasions 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-020-02220-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
AbstractOur ability to predict invasions has been hindered by the seemingly idiosyncratic context-dependency of individual invasions. However, we argue that robust and useful generalisations in invasion science can be made by considering “invasion syndromes” which we define as “a combination of pathways, alien species traits, and characteristics of the recipient ecosystem which collectively result in predictable dynamics and impacts, and that can be managed effectively using specific policy and management actions”. We describe this approach and outline examples that highlight its utility, including: cacti with clonal fragmentation in arid ecosystems; small aquatic organisms introduced through ballast water in harbours; large ranid frogs with frequent secondary transfers; piscivorous freshwater fishes in connected aquatic ecosystems; plant invasions in high-elevation areas; tall-statured grasses; and tree-feeding insects in forests with suitable hosts. We propose a systematic method for identifying and delimiting invasion syndromes. We argue that invasion syndromes can account for the context-dependency of biological invasions while incorporating insights from comparative studies. Adopting this approach will help to structure thinking, identify transferrable risk assessment and management lessons, and highlight similarities among events that were previously considered disparate invasion phenomena.
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