Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia.
Biodiversity Protection and Information Branch, Biodiversity Division, Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Glob Chang Biol. 2023 Sep;29(17):4949-4965. doi: 10.1111/gcb.16852. Epub 2023 Jul 4.
Ecosystem disturbance is increasing in extent, severity and frequency across the globe. To date, research has largely focussed on the impacts of disturbance on animal population size, extinction risk and species richness. However, individual responses, such as changes in body condition, can act as more sensitive metrics and may provide early warning signs of reduced fitness and population declines. We conducted the first global systematic review and meta-analysis investigating the impacts of ecosystem disturbance on reptile and amphibian body condition. We collated 384 effect sizes representing 137 species from 133 studies. We tested how disturbance type, species traits, biome and taxon moderate the impacts of disturbance on body condition. We found an overall negative effect of disturbance on herpetofauna body condition (Hedges' g = -0.37, 95% CI: -0.57, -0.18). Disturbance type was an influential predictor of body condition response and all disturbance types had a negative mean effect. Drought, invasive species and agriculture had the largest effects. The impact of disturbance varied in strength and direction across biomes, with the largest negative effects found within Mediterranean and temperate biomes. In contrast, taxon, body size, habitat specialisation and conservation status were not influential predictors of disturbance effects. Our findings reveal the widespread effects of disturbance on herpetofauna body condition and highlight the potential role of individual-level response metrics in enhancing wildlife monitoring. The use of individual response metrics alongside population and community metrics would deepen our understanding of disturbance impacts by revealing both early impacts and chronic effects within affected populations. This could enable early and more informed conservation management.
全球范围内，生态系统干扰的范围、严重程度和频率都在增加。迄今为止，研究主要集中在干扰对动物种群规模、灭绝风险和物种丰富度的影响上。然而，个体的反应，如身体状况的变化，可以作为更敏感的指标，并可能提供适应力下降和种群减少的早期预警信号。我们进行了首次全球系统回顾和荟萃分析，研究了生态系统干扰对爬行动物和两栖动物身体状况的影响。我们整理了 133 项研究中代表 137 个物种的 384 个效应量。我们测试了干扰类型、物种特征、生物群落和分类群如何调节干扰对身体状况的影响。我们发现，干扰对爬行动物和两栖动物身体状况有整体的负面影响（Hedges' g=-0.37，95%置信区间：-0.57，-0.18）。干扰类型是身体状况反应的一个有影响力的预测因子，所有干扰类型都有负的平均效应。干旱、入侵物种和农业的影响最大。干扰的影响在不同生物群落中强度和方向都有所不同，在地中海和温带生物群落中发现的负面影响最大。相比之下，分类群、体型、栖息地特化和保护状况不是干扰效应的有影响力的预测因子。我们的研究结果揭示了干扰对爬行动物和两栖动物身体状况的广泛影响，并强调了个体水平反应指标在增强野生动物监测方面的潜在作用。使用个体反应指标与种群和群落指标相结合，可以通过揭示受影响种群中的早期影响和慢性影响，加深我们对干扰影响的理解。这可以实现早期和更明智的保护管理。
