Environmental niche of the smut lizard population on a sandy coastal ecosystem of Southeastern Tenerife (Canary Islands)

Abstract

Relationships among environmental patterns and population size of the smut lizard Gallotia galloti galloti Oudart, 1839 (Sauria Lacertidae) were examined in the context of longer time‐scale variability on a sandy beach and adjacent environments of Southeastern Tenerife. Seasonal and yearly patterns in the population size were likewise analyzed in relation to climatic and anthropic variables. Six sampling plots (coastal, sweet tabaiba, tuff, lava, sandy lava and crater) were selected following a perpendicular transect to the sandy fringe that extends from the beach toward the volcanic interior. Pitfall trapping was conducted from 1984 to 2005, and capture–mark–recapture technique and the Jolly–Seber method were used to estimate population sizes. The highest population size estimates were shown on the sandy lava plot and the neighboring lava plot, reaching values of about 3500 individuals ha−1 during the spring. The population was active almost the whole year, with seasonal patterns of activity from March to October. Seasonal temperature and population size patterns were correlated but the ‘calima’ episodes produced some disturbance. Gallotia galloti galloti was one of the most abundant lizards of all the species studied and its population size has not remained stable over the study period, probably because of the absence of predation and competition, and because of human interference and environmental instability.

Lizard host abundances and climatic factors explain phylogenetic diversity and prevalence of blood parasites on an oceanic island

“…It plays a prominent role as fruit disperser in xeric habitats of Tenerife (Valido & Nogales, 1994) and is relatively long‐living (9–11 years; Castanet & Báez, 1991; Serén et al., 2023). Populations attain densities of 3500 lizards/ha on eastern lava flows of Tenerife (de los Santos & de Nicolás, 2008). They are widespread but vary in density across most habitats of the island, where they show some degree of genetic structuring into western and eastern lineages as well as across a latitudinal ecotone in the North of Tenerife (Thorpe & Richard, 2001).…”