Date: November 29, 2018
Source: Penn State
Some
lizards in the eastern U.S. have adapted to invasive fire ants -- which can
bite, sting, and kill lizards -- reversing geographical trends in behavioral
and physical traits used to avoid predators. A new study describing this
reversal appears online on November 29, 2018, in the journal Global Change
Biology and reveals that new environmental challenges can override the
historical influences that originally determined geographical trends in traits.
"Rapid
environmental change, be it from changing climate or the introduction of
invasive species, is putting a lot of pressure on native species," said
Christopher Thawley, graduate student at Penn State at the time of the study
and first author of the paper. "Usually when researchers look at how
native species might respond to these kinds of threats, they might measure one
characteristic of the animal and at one or a few sites. In this study, we
looked at three separate characteristics of eastern fence lizards from thirteen
sites spanning a thousand miles and found that these lizards are capable of
adapting in a concerted way to meet the threat of invasive fire ants, and in a
relatively short time frame."
Some
behavioral and physical characteristics within a species change gradually
across geographical space, for example animals at one end of the range may have
relatively short limbs that, as you move across the range, are longer. These
geographical "clines" may be related to changes in temperature,
precipitation, or other environmental factors that also change across the
geographical range, often with latitude.
Posts
