Niche lability mitigates the impact of invasion but not urbanization

Native species can coexist with invasive congeners by partitioning niche space; however, impacts from invasive species often occur alongside other disturbances. Native species’ responses to the interactions of multiple disturbances remain poorly understood. Here we study the impacts of urbanization and an invasive congener on a native species. Using abundance (catch-per-unit effort) and vertical distribution of native green anoles (Anolis carolinensis) and invasive brown anoles (Anolis sagrei) across a gradient of natural-to-urban forests, we ask if niche shifting (lability) is occurring, and if it can mitigate impacts from one or both disturbances. We use generalized linear models to relate species abundances across the landscape to urbanization, forest structural complexity, and congener abundances (i.e., A. sagrei); and test for an interaction between urbanization and congener abundance. Our data show that A. sagrei presence results in a 17-fold upward shift in vertical niche of A. carolinensis—an 8.3 m shift in median perch height, and models reveal urbanization also drives an increase in A. carolinensis perch height. A. carolinensis and A. sagrei abundances negatively and positively correlate with urbanization, respectively, and neither species’ abundance correlate with congener abundance. Despite a positive correlation between A. sagrei abundance and urbanization, our results do not show evidence of this interaction affecting A. carolinensis. Instead, niche lability appears to enable the native species to mitigate the impact of one driver of decline (invasive competition) while our data suggest it declines with the second (urbanization).