TY - JOUR
T1 - Locomotor performance in an invasive species
T2 - cane toads from the invasion front have greater endurance, but not speed, compared to conspecifics from a long-colonised area
AU - Llewelyn, John
AU - Phillips, Benjamin L.
AU - Alford, Ross A.
AU - Schwarzkopf, Lin
AU - Shine, Richard
PY - 2010/2
Y1 - 2010/2
N2 - Cane toads (Bufo marinus) are now moving about 5 times faster through tropical Australia than they did a half-century ago, during the early phases of toad invasion. Radio-tracking has revealed higher daily rates of displacement by toads at the invasion front compared to those from long-colonised areas: toads from frontal populations follow straighter paths, move more often, and move further per displacement than do toads from older (long-established) populations. Are these higher movement rates of invasion-front toads associated with modified locomotor performance (e. g. speed, endurance)? In an outdoor raceway, toads collected from the invasion front had similar speeds, but threefold greater endurance, compared to conspecifics collected from a long-established population. Thus, increased daily displacement in invasion-front toads does not appear to be driven by changes in locomotor speed. Instead, increased dispersal is associated with higher endurance, suggesting that invasion-front toads tend to spend more time moving than do their less dispersive conspecifics. Whether this increased endurance is a cause or consequence of behavioural shifts associated with rapid dispersal is unclear. Nonetheless, shifts in endurance between frontal and core populations of this invasive species point to the complex panoply of traits affected by selection for increased dispersal ability on expanding population fronts.
AB - Cane toads (Bufo marinus) are now moving about 5 times faster through tropical Australia than they did a half-century ago, during the early phases of toad invasion. Radio-tracking has revealed higher daily rates of displacement by toads at the invasion front compared to those from long-colonised areas: toads from frontal populations follow straighter paths, move more often, and move further per displacement than do toads from older (long-established) populations. Are these higher movement rates of invasion-front toads associated with modified locomotor performance (e. g. speed, endurance)? In an outdoor raceway, toads collected from the invasion front had similar speeds, but threefold greater endurance, compared to conspecifics collected from a long-established population. Thus, increased daily displacement in invasion-front toads does not appear to be driven by changes in locomotor speed. Instead, increased dispersal is associated with higher endurance, suggesting that invasion-front toads tend to spend more time moving than do their less dispersive conspecifics. Whether this increased endurance is a cause or consequence of behavioural shifts associated with rapid dispersal is unclear. Nonetheless, shifts in endurance between frontal and core populations of this invasive species point to the complex panoply of traits affected by selection for increased dispersal ability on expanding population fronts.
KW - dispersal rate
KW - Bufo marinus
KW - introduced species
KW - Rhinella marina
KW - spatial selection
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=74449092728&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00442-009-1471-1
DO - 10.1007/s00442-009-1471-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 19841946
AN - SCOPUS:74449092728
SN - 0029-8549
VL - 162
SP - 343
EP - 348
JO - Oecologia
JF - Oecologia
IS - 2
ER -