Effects of Reduction in Windblown Sand on the Abundance of the Fringe-Toed Lizard (Uma inornata) in the Coachella Valley, California

Persistence and local extinctions of endangered lizardUma inornataon isolated habitat patches

“…While for most species this is a difficult task, the primary habitat correlates for Coachella Valley fringetoed lizards have been previously defined and described based on sand grain size (Stebbins 1944, Norris 1958, Pough 1970, Turner et al 1984) and sand compaction (Turner et al 1984, Barrows 1997. All of the sand patches included in our analyses are aeolian deposits and thus comprise the appropriate sand grain size.…”

“…To test these hypotheses we compared observed patterns to predicted patterns for each hypothesis. Habitat quality for Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizards has been defined based on sand grain size (Stebbins 1944, Norris 1958, Pough 1970, Turner et al 1984) and sand compaction (Turner et al 1984, Barrows 1997. Departures from established thresholds for fringe-toed lizard habitat suitability should correlate with occupancy if habitat quality were a key driver in the observed patterns.…”

The Coachella Valley Fringe-Toed Lizard (Uma inornata): Genetic Diversity and Phylogenetic Relationships of an Endangered Species

“…Therefore, fringe-toed lizards are essentially island inhabitants and, as a result, they are highly susceptible to factors that directly and indirectly affect their sand dune habitat. These factors include habitat destruction caused by the removal of sand, development and an increase in landfill sites, misuse of off-road vehicles, alterations in wind patterns for sand deposition due to urban development, and habitat loss from the conversion of land for agriculture and golf courses (see Turner et al, 1984;U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1984;Jennings and Hayes, 1994;Barrows, 1996).…”

Is the Nature 2000 Network associated with small-game bag results?

“…The four nominal variables examined were Nature 2000 (equal to one if the shoot was inside the Nature 2000 sites, otherwise zero), Tourism Shoot (equal to one if it was a tourism shoot, otherwise zero), Associative Shoot (equal to one if it was an associative shoot, otherwise zero) and Municipal Shoot (equal to one if it was a municipal shoot, otherwise zero). Thus, using a stepwise multiple regression analysis (Turner et al 1984;Martín and Salvador 1995), we examined the relationships between the total number of hares, red-legged partridges and wild rabbits hunted during the 5-year period of study and the aforementioned quantitative and nominal variables. The dependent variables were normalised by a log (x+1) mathematical transforma- tion and the models were estimated by ordinary least squares using the statistical software SPSS, version 14 (Maroco 2003).…”