Coping with aliens: how a native gecko manages to persist on Mediterranean islands despite the Black rat?
International audience How a native gecko manages to coexist with an alien rodent in the Mediterranean since thousands of years? What kind of eco-ethological adaptations or evolutionary adjustments enables this gecko to persist? The present study explores the interaction between the endemic European...
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Online Access: | https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099937 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099937/document https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099937/file/Delaugerre%20et%20al.%20-%202019%20-%20Coping%20with%20aliens%20how%20a%20native%20gecko%20manages%20to%20.pdf https://doi.org/10.13128/a_h-7746 |
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ftccsdartic:oai:HAL:hal-03099937v1 2023-05-15T18:05:06+02:00 Coping with aliens: how a native gecko manages to persist on Mediterranean islands despite the Black rat? Delaugerre, Michel-Jean Sacchi, Roberto Biaggini, Marta Cascio, Pietro, Ouni, Ridha Corti, Claudia Conservatoire du Littoral Ministère de l'Ecologie 2019 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099937 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099937/document https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099937/file/Delaugerre%20et%20al.%20-%202019%20-%20Coping%20with%20aliens%20how%20a%20native%20gecko%20manages%20to%20.pdf https://doi.org/10.13128/a_h-7746 en eng HAL CCSD Firenze University Press info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.13128/a_h-7746 hal-03099937 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099937 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099937/document https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099937/file/Delaugerre%20et%20al.%20-%202019%20-%20Coping%20with%20aliens%20how%20a%20native%20gecko%20manages%20to%20.pdf doi:10.13128/a_h-7746 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 1827-9635 EISSN: 1827-9643 Acta Herpetologica https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099937 Acta Herpetologica, Firenze University Press, 2019, ⟨10.13128/a_h-7746⟩ Behavioural shift disturbance ecological plasticity evolutionary processes predation rat eradication Euleptes europea Rattus rattus [SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2019 ftccsdartic https://doi.org/10.13128/a_h-7746 2021-01-16T23:23:33Z International audience How a native gecko manages to coexist with an alien rodent in the Mediterranean since thousands of years? What kind of eco-ethological adaptations or evolutionary adjustments enables this gecko to persist? The present study explores the interaction between the endemic European Leaf-toed gecko (Euleptes europaea) and the alien Black rat (Rattus rattus). In the last 30 years, we compared 26 populations inhabiting "rat" and "rat-free" islands and islets in Tunisia, Sardinia, Corsica and Southern France. Geckos' populations can persist despite the occurrence of rats. In the presence of rats: 1) geckos' average body size tends to decrease towards medium-sized individuals; 2) geckos shift their spatial behaviour avoiding to forage "in the open"; 3) geckos' body condition is not affected by the presence of rats. Moreover, shortly after rats' eradication, geckos' population structure seems to change and larger sized geckos prevail while the spatial behaviour is much more conservative. The mechanisms driving the interactions between the two species still need to be explained. Rats could represent a stressor for geckos, compete for space, be pest vectors and even predators. Coexistence of natives and aliens requires adaptive plasticity and evolutionary adjustments. In contexts where the risk of reinvasion is high, eradication programs need to be carefully evaluated, since the arrival of "new rats" on an island could have much more damaging effects on the insular biota than those caused by the eradicated population. Article in Journal/Newspaper Rattus rattus Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) |
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Open Polar |
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Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) |
op_collection_id |
ftccsdartic |
language |
English |
topic |
Behavioural shift disturbance ecological plasticity evolutionary processes predation rat eradication Euleptes europea Rattus rattus [SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology |
spellingShingle |
Behavioural shift disturbance ecological plasticity evolutionary processes predation rat eradication Euleptes europea Rattus rattus [SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology Delaugerre, Michel-Jean Sacchi, Roberto Biaggini, Marta Cascio, Pietro, Ouni, Ridha Corti, Claudia Coping with aliens: how a native gecko manages to persist on Mediterranean islands despite the Black rat? |
topic_facet |
Behavioural shift disturbance ecological plasticity evolutionary processes predation rat eradication Euleptes europea Rattus rattus [SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology |
description |
International audience How a native gecko manages to coexist with an alien rodent in the Mediterranean since thousands of years? What kind of eco-ethological adaptations or evolutionary adjustments enables this gecko to persist? The present study explores the interaction between the endemic European Leaf-toed gecko (Euleptes europaea) and the alien Black rat (Rattus rattus). In the last 30 years, we compared 26 populations inhabiting "rat" and "rat-free" islands and islets in Tunisia, Sardinia, Corsica and Southern France. Geckos' populations can persist despite the occurrence of rats. In the presence of rats: 1) geckos' average body size tends to decrease towards medium-sized individuals; 2) geckos shift their spatial behaviour avoiding to forage "in the open"; 3) geckos' body condition is not affected by the presence of rats. Moreover, shortly after rats' eradication, geckos' population structure seems to change and larger sized geckos prevail while the spatial behaviour is much more conservative. The mechanisms driving the interactions between the two species still need to be explained. Rats could represent a stressor for geckos, compete for space, be pest vectors and even predators. Coexistence of natives and aliens requires adaptive plasticity and evolutionary adjustments. In contexts where the risk of reinvasion is high, eradication programs need to be carefully evaluated, since the arrival of "new rats" on an island could have much more damaging effects on the insular biota than those caused by the eradicated population. |
author2 |
Conservatoire du Littoral Ministère de l'Ecologie |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Delaugerre, Michel-Jean Sacchi, Roberto Biaggini, Marta Cascio, Pietro, Ouni, Ridha Corti, Claudia |
author_facet |
Delaugerre, Michel-Jean Sacchi, Roberto Biaggini, Marta Cascio, Pietro, Ouni, Ridha Corti, Claudia |
author_sort |
Delaugerre, Michel-Jean |
title |
Coping with aliens: how a native gecko manages to persist on Mediterranean islands despite the Black rat? |
title_short |
Coping with aliens: how a native gecko manages to persist on Mediterranean islands despite the Black rat? |
title_full |
Coping with aliens: how a native gecko manages to persist on Mediterranean islands despite the Black rat? |
title_fullStr |
Coping with aliens: how a native gecko manages to persist on Mediterranean islands despite the Black rat? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Coping with aliens: how a native gecko manages to persist on Mediterranean islands despite the Black rat? |
title_sort |
coping with aliens: how a native gecko manages to persist on mediterranean islands despite the black rat? |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099937 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099937/document https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099937/file/Delaugerre%20et%20al.%20-%202019%20-%20Coping%20with%20aliens%20how%20a%20native%20gecko%20manages%20to%20.pdf https://doi.org/10.13128/a_h-7746 |
genre |
Rattus rattus |
genre_facet |
Rattus rattus |
op_source |
ISSN: 1827-9635 EISSN: 1827-9643 Acta Herpetologica https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099937 Acta Herpetologica, Firenze University Press, 2019, ⟨10.13128/a_h-7746⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.13128/a_h-7746 hal-03099937 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099937 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099937/document https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099937/file/Delaugerre%20et%20al.%20-%202019%20-%20Coping%20with%20aliens%20how%20a%20native%20gecko%20manages%20to%20.pdf doi:10.13128/a_h-7746 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.13128/a_h-7746 |
_version_ |
1766176529552769024 |