Resource partition among lacertid lizards in southern Europe

Arnold, E. N.

doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1987.tb00753.x

Cited by 135 publications

(202 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Psammodromus algirus is a medium-sized lacertid lizard (adult snout-vent length 60-85 mm; mass 6-14 g) inhabiting shrub and woodland habitats of the Iberian peninsula, southeastern coastal region of France and northwest Africa (Arnold 1987;Díaz & Carrascal 1991). It is a ground-dwelling, shuttling heliotherm (Díaz 1991), whose microhabitat selection is strongly influenced by thermoregulatory constraints and, apparently, by the need to minimize predation risk (Díaz 1992).…”

Section: Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological correlates of the thermal quality of an ectotherm’s habitat: a comparison between two temperate lizard populations

Dı́az¹

1997

Functional Ecology

116

102

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Summary 1.Although thermal factors are of paramount importance to the quality of the habitats occupied by small ectotherms (e.g. lizards), the hypothesis that the relative abundance of squamate populations is related to the thermal quality of their habitats remains untested. If differences in the availability of thermally suitable microhabitats was the primary determinant of the overall quality of a lizard's habitat, population density in a habitat should be proportional to its thermal quality. 2. The influence of the thermal quality of a habitat on thermoregulatory behaviour, body temperatures, expected physiological performance and relative abundance was compared in two populations of the temperate lizard Psammodromus algirus separated by 700 m altitude in central Spain. Habitat thermal quality was estimated with an index of how closely the available operative temperatures in a habitat match the range of body temperatures that lizards attempt to maintain in a laboratory thermogradient (Hertz, Huey & Stevenson 1993). 3. Operative temperatures, measured using copper models, were higher at the lowland site, where a large proportion of readings fell within or above the preferred range, especially in the early morning. Thermal habitat quality was also higher at the low altitude site, with smaller absolute deviations from the preferred range throughout most of the morning hours. Moreover, lizard body temperatures, the accuracy of thermoregulation and the predicted running performance of lizards were somewhat higher at the lowland site, although differences were smaller than expected on the basis of operative temperatures. A log-linear analysis showed that lizard selectivity for basking sites was more pronounced at the thermally inferior montane site. Thus, the observed differences in the thermal quality of habitats appeared to influence the behaviour of lizards. 4. Nevertheless, the relative abundance of lizards, as estimated by repeated transect counts, was higher at the montane site. This unexpected result suggests that thermal constraints may not be the most important factor determining lizard population densities on a regional scale. Alternatively, food availability and/or predation pressure might have a greater impact on the overall quality of a habitat for temperate lizards.

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Section: Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological correlates of the thermal quality of an ectotherm’s habitat: a comparison between two temperate lizard populations

Dı́az¹

1997

Functional Ecology

116

102

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“…In any case, the opinion that lacertids are opportunist predators is widespread among lacertologists (cf. Avery, 1966;Arnold, 1987;Mou, 1987;Diaz, 1995). Italian green lizards fed only rarely upon caterpillars, whereas this kind of prey was very usual for Hungarian conspecifics (Korsos, 1984).…”

Section: Diet Of Green Lizardsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food habits of the green lizard,Lacerta bilineata, in central Italy and a reliability test of faecal pellet analysis

Angelici¹,

Luiselli²,

Rugiero³

1997

Italian Journal of Zoology

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Food habits of the green lizard (Lacerta bilineata) were studied in some Mediterranean sites of the vicinities of Rome (Latium, central Italy), by means both of stomach dissection of individuals found already dead in the field and faeces analysis of living individuals. The taxonomic diet composition of the lizards was accurately described by both methods, thus demonstrating the reliability of faecal pellet analysis as an non-cruel method to study lizard diets. However, by using the faeces analysis technique, it is difficult to measure the exact food intake rate (items / unit of time) as well as the size distribution of prey ingested by lizards. There was a remarkable ontogenetic change in the taxonomic diet composition of green lizards: adults essentially consumed beetles and isopods, whereas juveniles fed mainly upon orthopterans, spiders, and Rhynchota. Cannibalism and predation upon small vertebrates (lizards) were very rare events. It is suggested that (i) age-related differences in microhabitat frequented could explain the dietary differences between young and adult lizards due to different availability of the various prey categories in the various microhabitats, and that (ii) adults and juveniles partition their habitats to reduce intraspecific interference competition.

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“…In only one instance was the presence of syntopic P. melisellensis individuals accompanied by significant reduction of the SSD level in one A. oxycephala population, most likely not because of competition for food, as these species use different microhabitats. As on Mediterranean islands (Arnold 1987), when lacertid species co-occur on the islands of Lake Skadar, the ''dominant'' species typically occupies the terrestrial, vegetated (''horizontal'') microhabitats (P. muralis and P. melisellensis), while the ''subordinate'' species is mostly confined to rocks and walls (the ''vertical'' microhabitats) (A. oxycephala) (personal observations).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex size and shape differences in the lacertid community (Podarcisspp. andArchaeolacertasp.) from the Lake Skadar region (Montenegro)

Aleksic

Ivanović

Crnobrnja‐Isailović

et al. 2009

Italian Journal of Zoology

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Resource partition among lacertid lizards in southern Europe

Cited by 135 publications

References 27 publications

Ecological correlates of the thermal quality of an ectotherm’s habitat: a comparison between two temperate lizard populations

Ecological correlates of the thermal quality of an ectotherm’s habitat: a comparison between two temperate lizard populations

Food habits of the green lizard,Lacerta bilineata, in central Italy and a reliability test of faecal pellet analysis

Sex size and shape differences in the lacertid community (Podarcisspp. andArchaeolacertasp.) from the Lake Skadar region (Montenegro)

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