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      Synergistic effects of the invasive Chinese tallow ( Triadica sebifera) and climate change on aquatic amphibian survival

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          Abstract

          Changes in climate and the introduction of invasive species are two major stressors to amphibians, although little is known about the interaction between these two factors with regard to impacts on amphibians. We focused our study on an invasive tree species, the Chinese tallow ( Triadica sebifera), that annually sheds its leaves and produces leaf litter that is known to negatively impact aquatic amphibian survival. The purpose of our research was to determine whether the timing of leaf fall from Chinese tallow and the timing of amphibian breeding (determined by weather) influence survival of amphibian larvae. We simulated a range of winter weather scenarios, ranging from cold to warm, by altering the relative timing of when leaf litter and amphibian larvae were introduced into aquatic mesocosms. Our results indicate that amphibian larvae survival was greatly affected by the length of time Chinese tallow leaf litter decomposes in water prior to the introduction of the larvae. Larvae in treatments simulating warm winters (early amphibian breeding) were introduced to the mesocosms early in the aquatic decomposition process of the leaf litter and had significantly lower survival compared with cold winters (late amphibian breeding), likely due to significantly lower dissolved oxygen levels. Shifts to earlier breeding phenology, linked to warming climate, have already been observed in many amphibian taxa, and with most climate models predicting a significant warming trend over the next century, the trend toward earlier breeding should continue if not increase. Our results strongly suggest that a warming climate can interact with the effects of invasive plant species, in ways we have not previously considered, to reduce the survival of an already declining group of organisms.

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          Controlling the False Discovery Rate: A Practical and Powerful Approach to Multiple Testing

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Ecol Evol
                Ecol Evol
                ece3
                Ecology and Evolution
                Blackwell Publishing Ltd
                2045-7758
                2045-7758
                November 2013
                05 November 2013
                : 3
                : 14
                : 4828-4840
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Southern Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service 506 Hayter Street, Nacogdoches, Texas, 75965, USA
                [2 ]Department of Biology, Stephen F. Austin State University P.O. Box 13003, Nacogdoches, Texas, 75962, USA
                Author notes
                Daniel Saenz, Southern Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 506 Hayter Street, Nacogdoches, TX 75965, USA,, Tel: +936 569 7981;, Fax: +936 569 9681;, E-mail: dsaenz@ 123456fs.fed.us

                Funding Information Funding for this study was provided by the US Forest Service.

                Article
                10.1002/ece3.857
                3867914
                24363907
                c65dc408-1fde-4a1d-b3ff-21ec778ee31b
                © 2013 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

                Re-use of this article is permitted in accordance with the Creative Commons Deed, Attribution 2.5, which does not permit commercial exploitation.

                History
                : 11 September 2013
                : 24 September 2013
                : 26 September 2013
                Categories
                Original Research

                Evolutionary Biology
                amphibians,breeding phenology,chinese tallow,climate change,invasive plant,weather

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