Invasive house geckos are more willing to use artificial lights than are native geckos

Zozaya, Stephen M.; Alford, Ross A.; Schwarzkopf, Lin

doi:10.1111/aec.12287

Cited by 30 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(98 reference statements)

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“…A range of factors, such as temperature [ 55 , 67 ], substrate colour and height [ 68 ], ambient light [ 69 , 70 ], competition [ 9 , 57 ] and refuge availability [ 70 ] influence microhabitat selection in geckos. We excluded the influence of these confounding factors by performing trials in constant temperature rooms, matching substrate colour, using infrared light, and not providing any refuge in the testing arenas (Supplementary material S5).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geckos cling best to, and prefer to use, rough surfaces

et al. 2020

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Background Fitness is strongly related to locomotor performance, which can determine success in foraging, mating, and other critical activities. Locomotor performance on different substrates is likely to require different abilities, so we expect alignment between species’ locomotor performance and the habitats they use in nature. In addition, we expect behaviour to enhance performance, such that animals will use substrates on which they perform well. Methods We examined the associations between habitat selection and performance in three species of Oedura geckos, including two specialists, (one arboreal, and one saxicolous), and one generalist species, which used both rocks and trees. First, we described their microhabitat use in nature (tree and rock type) for these species, examined the surface roughnesses they encountered, and selected materials with comparable surface microtopographies (roughness measured as peak-to-valley heights) to use as substrates in lab experiments quantifying behavioural substrate preferences and clinging performance. Results The three Oedura species occupied different ecological niches and used different microhabitats in nature, and the two specialist species used a narrower range of surface roughnesses compared to the generalist. In the lab, Oedura geckos preferred substrates (coarse sandpaper) with roughness characteristics similar to substrates they use in nature. Further, all three species exhibited greater clinging performance on preferred (coarse sandpaper) substrates, although the generalist used fine substrates in nature and had good performance capabilities on fine substrates as well. Conclusion We found a relationship between habitat use and performance, such that geckos selected microhabitats on which their performance was high. In addition, our findings highlight the extensive variation in surface roughnesses that occur in nature, both among and within microhabitats.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geckos cling best to, and prefer to use, rough surfaces

et al. 2020

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“…For example, invasive house geckos Hemidactylus are more likely to occupy the vacant niches around artificial lights on buildings compared with native geckos ( Yang et al. 2012 ; Zozaya et al. 2015 ).…”

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

2020

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Biological invasions threaten biodiversity worldwide, and therefore, understanding the traits of successful invaders could mitigate their spread. Many commonly invasive species do well in disturbed habitats, such as urban environments, and their abilities to effectively respond to disturbances 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 environments 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 environments). 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 species. 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.

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“…Lizards are commonly found in urban environments and have emerged as a useful taxon for testing the effects of urbanization on ecology, morphology, physiology, and behavior. For instance, geckos have been touted as indicators of urban pollution and habitat quality (Fletcher et al, 2008) and the distribution of some gecko species tracks urbanization because they forage close to artificial lights where insect abundance is typically high (Zozaya et al, 2015). Anolis lizards in particular have previously been suggested to be ideal organisms for understanding adaptation to urban environments at multiple levels of organization, from the within-and among-individual levels to that of the species (Lapiedra, 2018), and indeed a growing number of studies have tested for adaptation to urban habitats in several species of anoles (Campbell-Staton et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

It’s Not Easy Being Green: Behavior, Morphology, and Population Structure in Urban and Natural Populations of Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis) Lizards

Lailvaux

2020

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Selection on behavior, signaling, and morphology can be strongly affected by variation in habitat type. Consequently, populations inhabiting different environments can exhibit divergent phenotypes as a result of either habitat-specific selection or plasticity. Urban habitats in particular represent different challenges for organisms adapted for rural environments, including disparate complements of predators and competitors, resource availability, and habitat complexity. In this paper, I review work aimed at understanding the different selective challenges experienced by rural and urban populations of green anole lizards, primarily those in southeastern Louisiana. I also describe a long-term mark-recapture experiment on an urban population of green anoles in New Orleans, and consider how sex ratios and population density changes over time. Collectively, this work shows that urban and rural populations of green anoles diverge markedly in behavior and morphology driven both by differences in habitat and the presence of competitors in the urban environment; however, it also shows that the effects of urbanization on the ecology and evolution of green anoles are understudied.

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Invasive house geckos are more willing to use artificial lights than are native geckos

Cited by 30 publications

References 25 publications

Geckos cling best to, and prefer to use, rough surfaces

Geckos cling best to, and prefer to use, rough surfaces

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

It’s Not Easy Being Green: Behavior, Morphology, and Population Structure in Urban and Natural Populations of Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis) Lizards

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