1
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Mychajliw AM, Ellwood ER, Alagona PS, Anderson RS, Balisi MA, Biber E, Brown JL, George J, Hendy AJW, Higgins L, Hofman CA, Leger A, Ordeñana MA, Pauly GB, Putman BJ, Randall JM, Riley SPD, Shultz AJ, Stegner MA, Wake TA, Lindsey EL. Lessons for conservation from beneath the pavement. Conserv Biol 2022; 36:e13983. [PMID: 36069058 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Revised: 05/25/2022] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Alexis M Mychajliw
- La Brea Tar Pits & Museum, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Department of Biology and Environmental Studies Program, Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont, USA
| | - Elizabeth R Ellwood
- La Brea Tar Pits & Museum, Los Angeles, California, USA
- iDigBio, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Peter S Alagona
- Environmental Studies Program, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA
| | - R Scott Anderson
- School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
| | - Mairin A Balisi
- La Brea Tar Pits & Museum, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, California, USA
- Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology, The Webb Schools, Claremont, California, USA
| | - Eric Biber
- School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Justin L Brown
- National Park Service, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Thousand Oaks, California, USA
| | - Jessie George
- Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Austin J W Hendy
- Department of Invertebrate Paleontology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Lila Higgins
- Community Science Program, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Urban Nature Research Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Courtney A Hofman
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology & Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Ashley Leger
- Cogstone Resource Management, Orange, California, USA
| | - Miguel A Ordeñana
- Community Science Program, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Urban Nature Research Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Gregory B Pauly
- Urban Nature Research Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Department of Herpetology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Breanna J Putman
- Urban Nature Research Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Department of Biology, California State University, San Bernardino, California, USA
| | - John M Randall
- The Nature Conservancy, California Chapter, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Seth P D Riley
- National Park Service, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Thousand Oaks, California, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Allison J Shultz
- Department of Ornithology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - M Allison Stegner
- Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, Stanford University, California, USA
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Thomas A Wake
- The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Emily L Lindsey
- La Brea Tar Pits & Museum, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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2
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Lopera D, Guo KC, Putman BJ, Swierk L. Keeping it cool to take the heat: tropical lizards have greater thermal tolerance in less disturbed habitats. Oecologia 2022; 199:819-829. [PMID: 35948691 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-022-05235-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
Global climate change has profound effects on species, especially those in habitats already altered by humans. Tropical ectotherms are predicted to be at high risk from global temperature increases, particularly those adapted to cooler temperatures at higher altitudes. We investigated how one such species, the water anole (Anolis aquaticus), is affected by temperature stress similar to that of a warming climate across a gradient of human-altered habitats at high elevation sites. We conducted a field survey on thermal traits and measured lizard critical thermal maxima across the sites. From the field survey, we found that (1) lizards from the least disturbed site and (2) operative temperature models of lizards placed in the least disturbed site had lower temperatures than those from sites with histories of human disturbance. Individuals from the least disturbed site also demonstrated greater tolerance to high temperatures than those from the more disturbed sites, in both their critical thermal maxima and the time spent at high temperatures prior to reaching critical thermal maxima. Our results demonstrate within-species variability in responses to high temperatures, depending on habitat type, and provide insight into how tropical reptiles may fare in a warming world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana Lopera
- Global Environmental Science, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA
| | - Kimberly Chen Guo
- School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA.,Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Breanna J Putman
- Department of Biology, California State University, San Bernardino, CA, 92407, USA.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.,Department of Herpetology and Urban Nature Research Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, USA
| | - Lindsey Swierk
- School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA. .,Department of Biological Sciences, Environmental Studies Program, Binghamton University, State University of New York, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA. .,Amazon Conservatory for Tropical Studies, Iquitos, Loreto, 16001, Perú.
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3
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Wuthrich KL, Stock D, Talavera JB, Putman BJ, Swierk L. Sexual signal conspicuity is correlated with tail autotomy in an anoline lizard. Curr Zool 2021; 68:129-132. [PMID: 35169636 PMCID: PMC8836338 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoab064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2021] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Kelly Lin Wuthrich
- Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, State University of New York, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA
| | - Derek Stock
- Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, State University of New York, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA
| | - Janelle B Talavera
- Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, State University of New York, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA
- Department of Biology, California State University, Northridge, CA 91330-8303, USA
| | - Breanna J Putman
- Department of Biology, California State University, San Bernardino, CA 92407, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
- Department of Herpetology and Urban Nature Research Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
| | - Lindsey Swierk
- Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, State University of New York, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA
- School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
- Amazon Conservatory for Tropical Studies, Iquitos, Loreto 16001, Perú
- The Morpho Institute, Kansas City, MO 64113, USA
- Address correspondence to Lindsey Swierk. E-mail:
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4
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Putman BJ, Williams R, Li E, Pauly GB. The power of community science to quantify ecological interactions in cities. Sci Rep 2021; 11:3069. [PMID: 33542360 PMCID: PMC7862361 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-82491-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Studying animals in urban environments is especially challenging because much of the area is private property not easily accessible to professional scientists. In addition, collecting data on animals that are cryptic, secretive, or rare is also challenging due to the time and resources needed to amass an adequate dataset. Here, we show that community science can be a powerful tool to overcome these challenges. We used observations submitted to the community science platform iNaturalist to assess predation and parasitism across urbanization gradients in a secretive, 'hard-to-study' species, the Southern Alligator Lizard (Elgaria multicarinata). From photographs, we quantified predation risk by assessing tail injuries and quantified parasitism by counting tick loads on lizards. We found that tail injuries increased with age and with urbanization, suggesting that urban areas are risky habitats. Conversely, parasitism decreased with urbanization likely due to a loss of hosts and anti-tick medications used on human companion animals. This community science approach generated a large dataset on a secretive species rapidly and at an immense spatial scale that facilitated quantitative measures of urbanization (e.g. percent impervious surface cover) as opposed to qualitative measures (e.g. urban vs. rural). We therefore demonstrate that community science can help resolve ecological questions that otherwise would be difficult to address.
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Affiliation(s)
- Breanna J Putman
- Urban Nature Research Center, The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, USA. .,Department of Biology, California State University, San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA, 92407, USA.
| | - Riley Williams
- Urban Nature Research Center, The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, USA
| | - Enjie Li
- Urban Nature Research Center, The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, USA
| | - Gregory B Pauly
- Urban Nature Research Center, The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, USA
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5
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Talavera JB, Carriere A, Swierk L, Putman BJ. Tail autotomy is associated with boldness in male but not female water anoles. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-021-02982-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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Putman BJ, Pauly GB, Blumstein DT. Urban invaders are not bold risk-takers: a study of 3 invasive lizards in Southern California. Curr Zool 2020; 66:657-665. [PMID: 33391365 PMCID: PMC7769584 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoaa015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2019] [Accepted: 03/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
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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Affiliation(s)
- Breanna J Putman
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1606, USA
- Department of Herpetology and Urban Nature Research Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, USA
| | - Gregory B Pauly
- Department of Herpetology and Urban Nature Research Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, USA
| | - Daniel T Blumstein
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1606, USA
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Abstract
Urban environments pose different selective pressures than natural ones, leading to changes in animal behavior, physiology, and morphology. Understanding how animals respond to urbanization could inform the management of urban habitats. Non-avian reptiles have important roles in ecosystems worldwide, yet their responses to urbanization have not been as comprehensively studied as those of mammals and birds. However, unlike mammals and birds, most reptiles cannot easily move away from disturbances, making the selective pressure to adapt to urban environments especially strong. In recent years, there has been a surge in research on the responses of lizards to urbanization, yet no formal synthesis has determined what makes an urban lizard, in other words, which phenotypic traits are most likely to change with urbanization and in which direction? Here, we present a qualitative synthesis of the literature and a quantitative phylogenetic meta-analysis comparing phenotypic traits between urban and non-urban lizard populations. The most robust finding from our analysis is that urban lizards are larger than their non-urban counterparts. This result remained consistent between sexes and taxonomic groups. Hence, lizards that pass through the urban filter have access to better resources, more time for foraging, and/or there is selection on attaining a larger body size. Other results included an increase in the diameters of perches used and longer limb and digit lengths, although this may be a result of increased body size. Urban lizards were not bolder, more active or exploratory, and did not differ in immune responses than non-urban populations. Overall, studies are biased to a few geographic regions and taxa. More than 70% of all data came from three species of anoles in the family Dactyloidae, making it difficult to generalize patterns to other clades. Thus, more studies are needed across multiple taxa and habitats to produce meaningful predictions that could help inform conservation and management of urban ecological communities.
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Geffroy B, Sadoul B, Putman BJ, Berger-Tal O, Garamszegi LZ, Møller AP, Blumstein DT. Evolutionary dynamics in the Anthropocene: Life history and intensity of human contact shape antipredator responses. PLoS Biol 2020; 18:e3000818. [PMID: 32960897 PMCID: PMC7508406 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000818] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2020] [Accepted: 08/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans profoundly impact landscapes, ecosystems, and animal behavior. In many cases, animals living near humans become tolerant of them and reduce antipredator responses. Yet, we still lack an understanding of the underlying evolutionary dynamics behind these shifts in traits that affect animal survival. Here, we used a phylogenetic meta-analysis to determine how the mean and variability in antipredator responses change as a function of the number of generations spent in contact with humans under 3 different contexts: urbanization, captivity, and domestication. We found that any contact with humans leads to a rapid reduction in mean antipredator responses as expected. Notably, the variance among individuals over time observed a short-term increase followed by a gradual decrease, significant for domesticated animals. This implies that intense human contact immediately releases animals from predation pressure and then imposes strong anthropogenic selection on traits. In addition, our results reveal that the loss of antipredator traits due to urbanization is similar to that of domestication but occurs 3 times more slowly. Furthermore, the rapid disappearance of antipredator traits was associated with 2 main life-history traits: foraging guild and whether the species was solitary or gregarious (i.e., group-living). For domesticated animals, this decrease in antipredator behavior was stronger for herbivores than for omnivores or carnivores and for solitary than for gregarious species. By contrast, the decrease in antipredator traits was stronger for gregarious, urbanized species, although this result is based mostly on birds. Our study offers 2 major insights on evolution in the Anthropocene: (1) changes in traits occur rapidly even under unintentional human “interventions” (i.e., urbanization) and (2) there are similarities between the selection pressures exerted by domestication and by urbanization. In all, such changes could affect animal survival in a predator-rich world, but through understanding evolutionary dynamics, we can better predict when and how exposure to humans modify these fitness-related traits. This study reveals that the evolutionary dynamics of antipredator responses of urbanized animals are similar to those of domestication but at a rate 3 times slower. Hence, contact with humans has profound impacts on the capacity of populations to respond to predation. Both foraging guilds and social level of species have an impact on the speed of the decrease of fear-related traits over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Geffroy
- MARBEC, Univ Montpellier, Ifremer, IRD, CNRS, Palavas-Les-Flots, France
- * E-mail:
| | - Bastien Sadoul
- MARBEC, Univ Montpellier, Ifremer, IRD, CNRS, Palavas-Les-Flots, France
| | - Breanna J. Putman
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Department of Herpetology and Urban Nature Research Center, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | - Oded Berger-Tal
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
| | - László Zsolt Garamszegi
- Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Vácrátót, Hungary
- MTA-ELTE, Theoretical Biology and Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Anders Pape Møller
- Laboratoire d’Ecologie, Systematique et Evolution, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Universite Paris-Sud, France
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Daniel T. Blumstein
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
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Zellmer AJ, Wood EM, Surasinghe T, Putman BJ, Pauly GB, Magle SB, Lewis JS, Kay CAM, Fidino M. What can we learn from wildlife sightings during the COVID-19 global shutdown? Ecosphere 2020; 11:e03215. [PMID: 32834907 PMCID: PMC7435357 DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2020] [Accepted: 05/19/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
During the worldwide shutdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many reports emerged of urban wildlife sightings. While these images garnered public interest and declarations of wildlife reclaiming cities, it is unclear whether wildlife truly reoccupied urban areas or whether there were simply increased detections of urban wildlife during this time. Here, we detail key questions and needs for monitoring wildlife during the COVID-19 shutdown and then link these with future needs and actions with the intent of improving conservation within urban ecosystems. We discuss the tools ecologists and conservation scientists can use to safely and effectively study urban wildlife during the shutdown. With a coordinated, multicity effort, researchers and community scientists can rigorously investigate the responses of wildlife to changes in human activities, which can help us address long-standing questions in urban ecology, inspire conservation of wildlife, and inform the design of sustainable cities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda J. Zellmer
- Department of BiologyOccidental CollegeLos AngelesCalifornia90041USA
- Arroyos & Foothills ConservancyPasadenaCalifornia91102USA
- Department of Herpetology and Urban Nature Research CenterNatural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyLos AngelesCalifornia90007USA
| | - Eric M. Wood
- Department of Biological SciencesCalifornia State UniversityLos AngelesCalifornia90032USA
| | - Thilina Surasinghe
- Department of Biological SciencesBridgewater State UniversityBridgewaterMassachusetts02325USA
| | - Breanna J. Putman
- Department of Herpetology and Urban Nature Research CenterNatural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyLos AngelesCalifornia90007USA
- Department of BiologyCalifornia State UniversitySan BernardinoCalifornia92407USA
| | - Gregory B. Pauly
- Department of Herpetology and Urban Nature Research CenterNatural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyLos AngelesCalifornia90007USA
| | - Seth B. Magle
- Urban Wildlife InstituteLincoln Park ZooChicagoIllinois60614USA
| | - Jesse S. Lewis
- College of Integrative Sciences and ArtsArizona State UniversityMesaArizona85212USA
| | - Cria A. M. Kay
- Urban Wildlife InstituteLincoln Park ZooChicagoIllinois60614USA
| | - Mason Fidino
- Urban Wildlife InstituteLincoln Park ZooChicagoIllinois60614USA
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10
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Fondren
- College of Agriculture and Sciences Iowa State University Ames IA USA
| | - Lindsey Swierk
- Department of Biological Sciences Binghamton University State University of New York Binghamton NY USA
| | - Breanna J. Putman
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California Los Angeles CA USA
- Section of Herpetology and Urban Nature Research Center Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Los Angeles CA USA
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11
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Putman BJ, Gasca M, Blumstein DT, Pauly GB. Downsizing for downtown: Limb lengths, toe lengths, and scale counts decrease with urbanization in western fence lizards ( Sceloporus occidentalis). Urban Ecosyst 2019; 22:1071-1081. [PMID: 32774080 DOI: 10.1007/s11252-019-00889-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Urbanization induced habitat loss and alteration causes significant challenges for the survival of many species. Identifying how species respond to urbanization can yield insights for the conservation of wildlife, but research on reptiles has been narrowly-focused. We compared morphology among four populations of western fence lizards (Sceloporus occidentalis) to determine whether a common native species affected by urbanization exhibits morphological differences consistent with habitat use. We quantified habitat differences across four sites in Los Angeles County, California, USA that varied in level of urbanization, measured how lizards used microhabitats, and assessed variation in body size, limb length, toe length, and scalation of lizards collected from each site. Urban and suburban populations of fence lizards mostly used human-made substrates while lizards from more natural areas mostly used natural woody substrates. Lizards from the most urban site also exhibited the widest breadth of substrates used, indicating that urban sites might offer more variable microhabitats. Urban lizards had reduced limb lengths and toe lengths consistent with how they used microhabitats and other habitat characteristics (e.g., percent impervious surface cover). Urban lizards also had fewer dorsal scales, which might be associated with changes in ambient temperature (e.g., urban heat island effect), given that lizards with fewer and larger scales typically have reduced evaporative water loss. Our results uniquely differ from past studies on lizard responses to urbanization, indicating that work on diverse taxa is necessary to assess the potential varied pathways of morphological adaptations to urban environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Breanna J Putman
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA.,Section of Herpetology, and Urban Nature Research Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA.,Current address: Department of Biology, California State University, San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407, USA
| | - Maria Gasca
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
| | - Daniel T Blumstein
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
| | - Gregory B Pauly
- Section of Herpetology, and Urban Nature Research Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
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Berger-Tal O, Greggor AL, Macura B, Adams CA, Blumenthal A, Bouskila A, Candolin U, Doran C, Fernández-Juricic E, Gotanda KM, Price C, Putman BJ, Segoli M, Snijders L, Wong BBM, Blumstein DT. Systematic reviews and maps as tools for applying behavioral ecology to management and policy. Behav Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ary130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Oded Berger-Tal
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben Gurion, Israel
| | - Alison L Greggor
- Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global, Escondido, CA, USA
| | - Biljana Macura
- Mistra EviEM, Stockholm Environment Institute, Linnégatan, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Carrie Ann Adams
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Arden Blumenthal
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
| | - Amos Bouskila
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben Gurion, Israel
- Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
| | - Ulrika Candolin
- Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Carolina Doran
- Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Kiyoko M Gotanda
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Catherine Price
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Breanna J Putman
- Section of Herpetology and Urban Nature Research Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Michal Segoli
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben Gurion, Israel
| | - Lysanne Snijders
- Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm, Berlin, Germany
| | - Bob B M Wong
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
| | - Daniel T Blumstein
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Putman BJ, Azure KR, Swierk L. Dewlap size in male water anoles associates with consistent inter-individual variation in boldness. Curr Zool 2018; 65:189-195. [PMID: 30936908 PMCID: PMC6430965 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoy041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2018] [Accepted: 05/20/2018] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Male sexually selected signals can indicate competitive ability by honestly signaling fitness-relevant traits such as condition or performance. However, behavior can also influence contest outcomes; in particular, boldness often predicts dominance rank and mating success. Here, we sought to determine whether male ornament size is associated with consistent individual differences in boldness in water anoles Anolis aquaticus. We measured the relative size of the dewlap, a flap of skin under the chin that is a sexually selected ornament in Anolis lizards, and tested for associations with responses to a novel and potentially risky environment: time to emerge from a refuge into an arena and number of head scans post-emergence. We found that individuals consistently differed in both time to emerge and head scanning (i.e., individual responses were repeatable), and that dewlap size was negatively related to number of head scans. This suggests that ornament size could indicate male boldness if scanning represents antipredator vigilance. We found that males that had larger relative dewlaps were also in better body condition, but boldness (i.e., head scanning) was not related to condition. Lastly, we found consistent differences in behavior between trials, showing that anoles were becoming habituated or sensitized to the testing arena. Overall, our study shows that in addition to indicating condition and performance, dewlap size could also honestly indicate male boldness in Anolis lizards.
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Affiliation(s)
- Breanna J Putman
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Section of Herpetology, and Urban Nature Research Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Kylee R Azure
- Environmental Science Department, Aaniiih Nakoda College, Harlem, MT, USA
| | - Lindsey Swierk
- School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
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Abstract
Animals often view humans as predators, leading to alterations in their behavior. Even nuanced aspects of human activity like clothing color affect animal behavior, but we lack an understanding of when and where such effects will occur. The species confidence hypothesis posits that birds are attracted to colors found on their bodies and repelled by non-body colors. Here, we extend this hypothesis taxonomically and conceptually to test whether this pattern is applicable in a non-avian reptile and to suggest that species should respond less fearfully to their sexually-selected signaling color. Responses to clothing color could also be impacted by habituation to humans, so we examine whether behavior varied between areas with low and high human activity. We quantified the effects of four T-shirt colors on flight initiation distances (FID) and on the ease of capture in western fence lizards (Sceloporus occidentalis), and we accounted for detectability against the background environment. We found no differences in lizard behavior between sites. However, lizards tolerated the closest approaches and were most likely to be captured when approached with the T-shirt that resembled their sexually-selected signaling color. Because changes in individual behavior affect fitness, choice of clothing color by people, including tourists, hikers, and researchers, could impact wildlife populations and research outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Breanna J. Putman
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- Section of Herpetology and Urban Nature Research Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Jonathan P. Drury
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | - Daniel T. Blumstein
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | - Gregory B. Pauly
- Section of Herpetology and Urban Nature Research Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
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Putman BJ, Clark RW. Behavioral thermal tolerances of free-ranging rattlesnakes ( Crotalus oreganus ) during the summer foraging season. J Therm Biol 2017; 65:8-15. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2017.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2016] [Revised: 01/04/2017] [Accepted: 01/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Clark RW, Dorr SW, Whitford MD, Freymiller GA, Putman BJ. Activity cycles and foraging behaviors of free-ranging sidewinder rattlesnakes (Crotalus cerastes): the ontogeny of hunting in a precocial vertebrate. ZOOLOGY 2016; 119:196-206. [DOI: 10.1016/j.zool.2016.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2015] [Revised: 01/15/2016] [Accepted: 02/25/2016] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Putman BJ, Barbour MA, Clark RW. The Foraging Behavior of Free-ranging Rattlesnakes (Crotalus oreganus) in California Ground Squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi) Colonies. HERPETOLOGICA 2016. [DOI: 10.1655/herpetologica-d-15-00045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Putman BJ, Lind C, Taylor EN. Does Size Matter? Factors Influencing the Spatial Ecology of Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes(Crotalus oreganus oreganus) in Central California. COPEIA 2013. [DOI: 10.1643/ce-12-048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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