Cane Toad Research Paper
Cane toads can adapt so well to Australia's climate that these amphibian pests may eventually spread around three-quarters of the country's coastline, biologists predict.
They says that the cane toad, a poisonous species introduced to northeastern Australia 72 years ago to control sugar-cane pests, may be able to move away from its traditional tropical and sub-tropical home and adapt to drier conditions.
So, if the researchers' predictions are correct, the toads could one day breed in large areas of Western Australia, South Australia and western Victoria, and in several pockets along the New South Wales coast.
An international team of scientists publish their predictions today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a journal of the UK's
Royal Society.
Bufo marinus is one of the world's most notorious examples of an unwanted, invasive pest, as its relentless spread has devastated populations of toads and frogs, and other native species.
In February 2006, biologists estimated the toad had extended its range to more than a million square kilometres in tropical and sub-tropical Australia.
The same team say the unwanted pest's empire has now expanded to 1.2 million square kilometres in a swathe across Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Confounding those who believed that the species would be limited to hot, humid climes, B. marinus has been found to cope with a wide temperature range and dry conditions, the study says.
They says that the cane toad, a poisonous species introduced to northeastern Australia 72 years ago to control sugar-cane pests, may be able to move away from its traditional tropical and sub-tropical home and adapt to drier conditions.
So, if the researchers' predictions are correct, the toads could one day breed in large areas of Western Australia, South Australia and western Victoria, and in several pockets along the New South Wales coast.
An international team of scientists publish their predictions today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a journal of the UK's
Royal Society.
Bufo marinus is one of the world's most notorious examples of an unwanted, invasive pest, as its relentless spread has devastated populations of toads and frogs, and other native species.
In February 2006, biologists estimated the toad had extended its range to more than a million square kilometres in tropical and sub-tropical Australia.
The same team say the unwanted pest's empire has now expanded to 1.2 million square kilometres in a swathe across Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Confounding those who believed that the species would be limited to hot, humid climes, B. marinus has been found to cope with a wide temperature range and dry conditions, the study says.