Pheromone-induced life-history shifts A novel approach to controlling invasive toads.
In a recent paper,1 we showed that recurrent exposure to alarm pheromones reduced development time and size at metamorphosis in larval cane toads (Bufo marinus). Subsequent measurements of post-metamorphic toads revealed larger parotoid glands relative to body size and increased amounts of bufalin (a toxic bufodienalide) in animals from the experimental treatment, suggesting increased investment in chemical defenses. These findings are of interest for evolutionary theory. But the study was also part of a larger conservation-based research program of which this pheromone work was an important component in the development of a management strategy for reducing the ecological impact of invasive cane toads in Australia. For example, our study1 aimed to quantify biochemical and life-history effects as well as assess the likely longterm impact of pheromone exposure on toads. In this addendum, I discuss the conservation potential of our research, with emphasis on exploiting alarm pheromones to induce viability reducing life-history shifts.
Hagman
Mattias
M
Department of Zoology; Stockholm University; Stockholm, Sweden.