Cargando…

Cane Toads on Cowpats: Commercial Livestock Production Facilitates Toad Invasion in Tropical Australia

Habitat disturbance and the spread of invasive organisms are major threats to biodiversity, but the interactions between these two factors remain poorly understood in many systems. Grazing activities may facilitate the spread of invasive cane toads (Rhinella marina) through tropical Australia by pro...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: González-Bernal, Edna, Greenlees, Matthew, Brown, Gregory P., Shine, Richard
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3492292/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23145158
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0049351
_version_ 1782249101949140992
author González-Bernal, Edna
Greenlees, Matthew
Brown, Gregory P.
Shine, Richard
author_facet González-Bernal, Edna
Greenlees, Matthew
Brown, Gregory P.
Shine, Richard
author_sort González-Bernal, Edna
collection PubMed
description Habitat disturbance and the spread of invasive organisms are major threats to biodiversity, but the interactions between these two factors remain poorly understood in many systems. Grazing activities may facilitate the spread of invasive cane toads (Rhinella marina) through tropical Australia by providing year-round access to otherwise-seasonal resources. We quantified the cane toad’s use of cowpats (feces piles) in the field, and conducted experimental trials to assess the potential role of cowpats as sources of prey, water, and warmth for toads. Our field surveys show that cane toads are found on or near cowpats more often than expected by chance. Field-enclosure experiments show that cowpats facilitate toad feeding by providing access to dung beetles. Cowpats also offer moist surfaces that can reduce dehydration rates of toads and are warmer than other nearby substrates. Livestock grazing is the primary form of land use over vast areas of Australia, and pastoral activities may have contributed substantially to the cane toad’s successful invasion of that continent.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-3492292
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2012
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-34922922012-11-09 Cane Toads on Cowpats: Commercial Livestock Production Facilitates Toad Invasion in Tropical Australia González-Bernal, Edna Greenlees, Matthew Brown, Gregory P. Shine, Richard PLoS One Research Article Habitat disturbance and the spread of invasive organisms are major threats to biodiversity, but the interactions between these two factors remain poorly understood in many systems. Grazing activities may facilitate the spread of invasive cane toads (Rhinella marina) through tropical Australia by providing year-round access to otherwise-seasonal resources. We quantified the cane toad’s use of cowpats (feces piles) in the field, and conducted experimental trials to assess the potential role of cowpats as sources of prey, water, and warmth for toads. Our field surveys show that cane toads are found on or near cowpats more often than expected by chance. Field-enclosure experiments show that cowpats facilitate toad feeding by providing access to dung beetles. Cowpats also offer moist surfaces that can reduce dehydration rates of toads and are warmer than other nearby substrates. Livestock grazing is the primary form of land use over vast areas of Australia, and pastoral activities may have contributed substantially to the cane toad’s successful invasion of that continent. Public Library of Science 2012-11-07 /pmc/articles/PMC3492292/ /pubmed/23145158 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0049351 Text en © 2012 Gonzalez-Bernal et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
González-Bernal, Edna
Greenlees, Matthew
Brown, Gregory P.
Shine, Richard
Cane Toads on Cowpats: Commercial Livestock Production Facilitates Toad Invasion in Tropical Australia
title Cane Toads on Cowpats: Commercial Livestock Production Facilitates Toad Invasion in Tropical Australia
title_full Cane Toads on Cowpats: Commercial Livestock Production Facilitates Toad Invasion in Tropical Australia
title_fullStr Cane Toads on Cowpats: Commercial Livestock Production Facilitates Toad Invasion in Tropical Australia
title_full_unstemmed Cane Toads on Cowpats: Commercial Livestock Production Facilitates Toad Invasion in Tropical Australia
title_short Cane Toads on Cowpats: Commercial Livestock Production Facilitates Toad Invasion in Tropical Australia
title_sort cane toads on cowpats: commercial livestock production facilitates toad invasion in tropical australia
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3492292/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23145158
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0049351
work_keys_str_mv AT gonzalezbernaledna canetoadsoncowpatscommerciallivestockproductionfacilitatestoadinvasionintropicalaustralia
AT greenleesmatthew canetoadsoncowpatscommerciallivestockproductionfacilitatestoadinvasionintropicalaustralia
AT browngregoryp canetoadsoncowpatscommerciallivestockproductionfacilitatestoadinvasionintropicalaustralia
AT shinerichard canetoadsoncowpatscommerciallivestockproductionfacilitatestoadinvasionintropicalaustralia