Urban invaders are not bold risk-takers:a study of 3 invasive lizards in Southern California

• 来源期刊: 动物学报（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2020,（6）
• 所属期刊栏目: Articles
• 页码范围: 657-665
• 页数: 9页
• 语种: 英文
• DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoaa015

摘要

Biological invasions threaten biodiversity worldwide,and therefore,understanding the traits of successful invaders could mitigate their spread.Many commonly invasive species do well in dis-turbed habitats,such as urban environments,and their abilities to effectively respond to disturban-ces could contribute to their invasiveness.Yet,there are noninvasive species that also do well in disturbed habitats.The question remains whether urban invaders behave differently in urban envi-ronments than noninvaders,which could suggest an "urban-exploiting" phenotype.In Southern California,the co-occurrence of invasive Italian wall lizards Podarcis siculus,brown anoles Anolis sagrei,and green anoles A.carolinensis,and native western fence lizards Sceloporus occidentalis offers an opportunity to test whether invasives exhibit consistent differences in risk-taking within human-altered habitats compared with a native species.We predicted that invasive lizards would exhibit more bold behavior by having shorter flight-initiation distances(FIDs)and by being found farther from a refuge(behaviors that would presumably maximize foraging in low-risk environ-ments).Invasive populations had similar or longer FIDs,but were consistently found at distances closer to a refuge.Collectively,invasive lizards in urban habitats were not bolder than a native spe-cies.Reliance on nearby refuges might help species successfully invade urban habitats,and if a general pattern,may pose an added challenge in detecting or eliminating them.