Research can be a formative experience for undergraduate students interested in STEM fields. Unfortunately, research opportunities can be difficult to identify and engage in for many students, particularly students from underserved communities. Designing courses to include a class research component, commonly referred to as Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs), has been suggested as a means of alleviating some of the inequities that can result from missed research opportunities. By implementing discovery-based research projects in undergraduate courses, students that may not have the time or financial stability to be involved in the more traditional model of mentored research are able to engage in the complete process of scientific research, from the conception of the research project through its publication. With these benefits in mind, we sought to integrate a research project on anoles into a Herpetology class (taught by Christian Cox, with help from myself and Noah Gripshover) at Florida International University (FIU).
The Modesto A. Madique campus of FIU hosts a diverse and novel lizard community of non-native species. In general, the lizard communities of South Florida are dominated by introduced species that are native to tropical and subtropical regions around the globe. Anoles from the Greater Antilles are especially common in these novel communities, and despite their ubiquity in the region, relatively little is known about the behavioral interactions that structure these emerging lizard communities. Undergraduate students taking the herpetology class were interested in how behavioral interactions among species might impact the lizard community on campus. First, we conducted surveys that revealed brown anoles (Anolis sagrei) and bark anoles (A. distichus) were the most common species on campus. With that information in hand, we decided to develop a study to investigate both inter- and intraspecific interactions between brown and bark anoles as part of their semester-long CURE.
Throughout the semester, we simulated territorial intrusions by presenting resident brown and bark anoles with unknown male or female brown anole intruders. Note that we did not do the reciprocal experiment (bark anoles intruding on bark and brown anoles) because of time and logistical constraints. This allowed us to compare behavioral responses between these two different species and between the sexes to better understand how behavior mediates community structuring. We also made behavioral observations during these interactions to investigate the role of behavioral displays in escalating aggression.
Our research, published recently in Journal of Zoology, showed that brown anoles were consistently more likely to attack intruders than bark anoles, and that female brown anoles were more likely to attack female intruders and flee from male intruders. In contrast, bark anoles were far more likely to flee when they encountered intruder brown anoles, regardless of the intruder’s sex. We also found that behavioral displays had little bearing on whether brown anoles escalated to combat or bark anoles fled. That is to say, resident brown anoles attacked intruders and bark anoles fled from intruders regardless of whether or not they displayed signs of aggression.
Overall, brown anoles appear to be much more combative than the smaller, (slightly) less abundant bark anoles, and this may, at least in part, explain why brown anoles are often found in such high densities in South Florida. Our work here reveals a likely mechanism underlying the establishment and stabilization of novel communities in highly modified landscapes.
The mechanisms underlying the development of stable communities are often unclear and must be inferred from the observation of contemporary interactions and dynamics. However, the recent introductions of various lizard species in South Florida provides an excellent opportunity to explore these mechanisms as they occur in emerging communities. FIU’s location in the region not only makes it an ideal location to investigate the mechanisms underlying community stabilization, but it facilities the direct involvement and engagement of undergraduate investigators in ecological research.
We also found that this was a fun and effective addition to the laboratory of the Herpetology course. Students told us that they enjoyed the hands-on experience, and seeing how research is planned and implemented. After the course, students were fully engaged as collaborators, providing feedback on analyses and manuscript drafts. Because of this, all students in this class were co-authors on the manuscript, and now have a coauthored manuscript to add to their CV or resume. Of course, we don’t anticipate that these research experiences will always result in a scientific publication (sometimes projects don’t work!), but our goal is to continue developing feasible projects that can be conducted as part of the Herpetology class. We hope to continue these and similar projects to engage undergraduate students in rigorous field ecology that provides valuable and authentic research experiences.
