Sex-based differences in the use of post-fire habitats by invasive cane toads (Rhinella marina)

Wildfires can modify habitat attributes, and those changes may differentially affect males versus females within a species if there is pre-existing niche divergence between the sexes. We used radio-tracking and dissections to study invasive cane toads (Rhinella marina), and performed transect counts on native frogs and cane toads 12 months after extensive fires in forests of eastern Australia. Both toads and native frogs were encountered more frequently in burned sites than in unburned sites. Most microhabitat features were similar between burned versus unburned areas, but fire had differential impacts on the ecology of male versus female toads. In burned areas females were less numerous but were larger, in better body condition, and had consumed more prey (especially, coleopterans and myriapods). The impact of fire on attributes of retreat-sites (e.g., temperature, density of vegetation cover) also differed between the sexes. More generally, intraspecific divergence in ecological trait...野火可改变栖息地属性，若物种两性间预先存在生态位分化，此类变化可能对雌雄个体产生差异化影响。本研究通过无线电追踪与解剖手段，对入侵性蔗蟾（Rhinella marina）展开研究，并在澳大利亚东部林区大规模火灾发生后的12个月，对本地蛙类与蔗蟾开展样带计数调查。结果显示，相较于未火烧区域，火烧区域内蔗蟾与本地蛙类的检出率均更高。多数微生境特征在火烧与未烧区域间无显著差异，但野火对雌雄蔗蟾的生态学特征存在差异化影响：在火烧区域内，雌性蔗蟾种群密度更低，但个体体型更大、身体状况更佳，且摄食的猎物（尤其是鞘翅目与多足纲动物）数量更多。此外，野火对隐蔽场所属性（如温度、植被覆盖密度）的影响同样存在两性差异。总体而言，生态学性状的种内分化...