School of Biological Sciences A08, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
PLoS One. 2013 Nov 8;8(11):e79496. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0079496. eCollection 2013.
Many invasive species exploit the disturbed habitats created by human activities. Understanding the effects of habitat disturbance on invasion success, and how disturbance interacts with other factors (such as biotic resistance to the invaders from the native fauna) may suggest new ways to reduce invader viability. In tropical Australia, commercial livestock production can facilitate invasion by the cane toad (Rhinella marina), because hoofprints left by cattle and horses around waterbody margins provide distinctive (cool, moist) microhabitats; nevertheless the same microhabitat can inhibit the success of cane toads by increasing the risks of predation or drowning. Metamorph cane toads actively select hoofprints as retreat-sites to escape dangerous thermal and hydric conditions in the surrounding landscape. However, hoofprint geometry is important: in hoofprints with steep sides the young toads are more likely to be attacked by predatory ants (Iridomyrmex reburrus) and are more likely to drown following heavy rain. Thus, anthropogenic changes to the landscape interact with predation by native taxa to affect the ability of cane toads in this vulnerable life-history stage to thrive in the harsh abiotic conditions of tropical Australia.
许多入侵物种利用人类活动造成的受干扰栖息地。了解栖息地干扰对入侵成功的影响，以及干扰如何与其他因素（如来自本地动物区系的生物对入侵物种的抵抗力）相互作用，可能会为减少入侵物种的生存能力提供新的途径。在澳大利亚热带地区，商业性牲畜生产可能会促进甘蔗蟾蜍（Rhinella marina）的入侵，因为牛和马在水体边缘留下的蹄印提供了独特的（凉爽、潮湿）小生境；然而，相同的小生境也可以通过增加捕食或溺水的风险来抑制甘蔗蟾蜍的成功。变态期的甘蔗蟾蜍积极选择蹄印作为躲避周围景观中危险热和水条件的避难所。然而，蹄印的几何形状很重要：在蹄印的两侧陡峭的情况下，幼年蟾蜍更容易受到捕食性蚂蚁（Iridomyrmex reburrus）的攻击，并且在大雨后更有可能溺水。因此，景观的人为变化与本地分类群的捕食相互作用，影响了在澳大利亚热带地区恶劣的非生物条件下，这种脆弱的生命史阶段的甘蔗蟾蜍茁壮成长的能力。
