Island Hopping through Urban Filters: Anthropogenic Habitats and Colonized Landscapes Alter Morphological and Performance Traits of an Invasive Amphibian

Abstract

A prominent feature of the modern era is the increasing spread of invasive species, particularly within island and urban ecosystems, and these occurrences provide valuable natural experiments by which evolutionary and invasion hypotheses can be tested. In this study, we used the invasion route of guttural toads (Sclerophrys gutturalis) from natural-native and urban-native populations (Durban, South Africa) to their urban-invasive and natural-invasive populations (Mauritius and Réunion) to determine whether phenotypic changes that arose once the toads became urbanized in their native range have increased their invasive potential before they were transported (i.e., prior adaptation) or whether the observed changes are unique to the invasive populations. This urban/natural by native/invasive gradient allowed us to examine differences in guttural toad morphology (i.e., body size, hindlimb, and hindfoot length) and performance capacity (i.e., escape speed, endurance, and climbing ability) along their invasion route. Our findings indicate that invasive island populations have reduced body sizes, shorter limbs in relation to snout-vent length, decreased escape speeds, and decreased endurance capacities that are distinct from the native mainland populations (i.e., invasion-derived change). Thus, these characteristics did not likely arise directly from a pre-transport anthropogenic “filter” (i.e., urban-derived change). Climbing ability, however, did appear to originate within the urban-native range and was maintained within the invasive populations, thereby suggesting it may have been a prior adaptation that provided this species with an advantage during its establishment in urban areas and spread into natural forests. We discuss how this shift in climbing performance may be ecologically related to the success of urban and invasive guttural toad populations, as well as how it may have impacted other island-derived morphological and performance phenotypes.

Recentering evolution for sustainability science

“…Evolution in urban environments can also have many significant negative consequences, including altered responses and spread of infectious and zoonotic diseases (Hassell et al, 2017), and the rapid evolution of invasive species (Baxter-Gilbert et al, 2022; Touchard et al, 2023). Notably, genetic exchange can occur between species or between genotypes or lineages coming from different populations, and such introgressive hybridization can provide a boost in evolutionary potential (Chaturvedi et al, 2020; Pacheco-Sierra et al, 2018).…”