Abstract
Climate change and invasive species are two major drivers of biodiversity loss and their interaction may lead to unprecedented further loss. Invasive ectotherms can be expected to tolerate temperature variation because of a broad thermal tolerance and may even benefit from warmer temperatures in their new ranges that better match their thermal preference. Multi-trait studies provide a valuable approach to elucidate the influence of temperature on the invasion process and offer insights into how climatic factors may facilitate or hinder the spread of invasive ectotherms. We here used marsh frogs, Pelophylax ridibundus, a species that is invading large areas of Western Europe but whose invasive potential has been underestimated. We measured the maximal and minimal temperatures to sustain physical activity, the preferred temperature, and the thermal dependence of their stamina and jumping performance in relation to the environmental temperatures observed in their invasive range. Our results showed that marsh frogs can withstand body temperatures that cover 100% of the annual temperature variation in the pond they live in and 77% of the observed current annual air temperature variation. Their preferred body temperature and performance optima were higher than the average temperature in their pond and the average air temperature experienced under the shade. These data suggest that invasive marsh frogs may benefit from a warmer climate. Broad thermal tolerances, combined with high thermal preferences and traits maximised at high temperatures, may allow this species to expand their activity period and colonise underexploited shaded habitat, thereby promoting their invasion success.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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The code used for statistical analysis was written in R and is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank F. Pille for his help in fieldwork, H. Clamouze for his help in conceiving experimental setups, the landowners and municipalities for allowing access to their ponds, and the Institut Géographique National for providing maps through the INSPIRE program. Animals were captured under a permit from the Direction Régionale de l’Environnement, de l’Aménagement et du Logement (Hérault). MD is a Research Director at Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique—FNRS; PP is a PhD student at Fonds pour la Formation à la Recherche dans l’Industrie et dans l’Agriculture (FRIA).
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This study benefited from the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique—FNRS by a PDR grant number T.0070.19 and mobility grants; a grant for a laboratory internship from the Royal Belgian Zoological Society; a mobility grant from the University of Liège.
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PP, AH and MD conceived the study; PP acquired the data, did the statistical analysis, and wrote the first draft of the manuscript; MD and AH administrated research grants; All authors contributed equally to the drafts and gave final approval for publication.
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Communicated by Catherine Price.
Highlighted student paper through the study of an overlooked invasive frog species, we show that multi-traits methods improve our understanding of how an invasive ectotherm may benefit from climate change.
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Padilla, P., Herrel, A. & Denoël, M. May future climate change promote the invasion of the marsh frog? An integrative thermo-physiological study. Oecologia 202, 227–238 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-023-05402-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-023-05402-0