Why do lizards avoid weeds?

Hacking, Jessica; Abom, Rickard; Schwarzkopf, Lin

doi:10.1007/s10530-013-0551-7

Cited by 31 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…In our study, temperatures within grass clumps were very similar among habitats, which contrasts with the findings of some other studies reporting cooler temperatures in weeds (Valentine, 2006) or less opportunities for thermoregulation in weeds (Downes and Hoefer, 2007;Hacking et al, 2014). We recorded temperatures only within grass clumps, and not in a range of habitat types at each site.…”

Section: Mechanisms Influencing the Abundance And Richness Of Reptilescontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…First, we recaptured small, but significant numbers of animals, and the percentage of recaptures was highest in the grader grass (where the captures were lowest), strongly suggesting that we were not detecting fewer of the resident animals in that grass type. Second, in another study (Hacking et al, 2014), we found reptiles actively avoided grader grass structure, both in the wild and in experimental situations. Here, we argue that the structure of each grass plays an important role in determining the reptile assemblage, and that the structure of the weed reduces use by most reptiles in the assemblage.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

“…Exotic annual grasses typically grow more closely spaced than native grasses, reducing spatial heterogeneity and lowering overall plant diversity (Lindsay and Cunningham, 2012), whereas native grasses, such as kangaroo and black spear grass, grow in clumps or hummocks (pers. obs., McIvor and Howden, 2000), and this promotes a greater diversity in microhabitat conditions, because there are areas of grass surrounded by leaf litter and bare ground (Lindsay and Cunningham, 2012;Hacking et al, 2014). We may have detected fewer logs in the invasive grass because grader grows in disturbed areas.…”

Section: Differences In Habitat Structure Between Invasive and Nativementioning

confidence: 93%

“…Habitat heterogeneity in vegetation cover is typically very important for reptile diversity and its presence often supports higher reptile abundance (Meik et al, 2002;Singh et al, 2002;Garden et al, 2007;Price et al, 2010;Pike et al, 2011;Bateman and Ostoja, 2012;Danielsen et al, 2014;Bruton et al, 2015). Non-native grasses reduce the extent of native grass (Hacking et al, 2014), and sites that are dominated by grass swards (or bare ground), tended to have lower reptile species richness and lower abundances than habitats with hummock grasses, which create a more diverse vegetation structure (Garden et al, 2007;Foxcroft et al, 2010;Price et al, 2010;Kutt and Fisher, 2011;Kutt and Kemp, 2012). Dense, uniform grass cover may affect the mobility of reptiles, reducing their ability to forage, escape predators, and engage in social interactions (Steidl et al, 2013).…”

Section: Tablementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rather than simply passively "not occurring" weedy vegetation, reptiles may actively avoid using it, because of its physical characteristics (Valentine et al, 2007;Hacking et al, 2014). Desert horned lizards (Phrynosoma platyrhinos) in sagebrush habitats in North America become less abundant with as ground cover of invasive cheat grass (Bromus tectorum) increases, and had significantly reduced mobility when moving through weeds compared to native habitat (Newbold, 2005;Rieder et al, 2010).…”

Section: Tablementioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Mechanisms of the impact of a weed (grader grass, Themeda quadrivalvis ) on reptile assemblage structure in a tropical savannah

Abom

Vogler²,

Schwarzkopf

2015

Biological Conservation

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Section: Mechanisms Influencing the Abundance And Richness Of Reptilescontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Section: Differences In Habitat Structure Between Invasive and Nativementioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Tablementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tablementioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Mechanisms of the impact of a weed (grader grass, Themeda quadrivalvis ) on reptile assemblage structure in a tropical savannah

Abom

Vogler²,

Schwarzkopf

2015

Biological Conservation

Self Cite

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Too hot to die? The effects of vegetation shading on past, present, and future activity budgets of two diurnal skinks from arid Australia

Grimm‐Seyfarth

Mihoub

Henle

2017

Ecology and Evolution

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Behavioral thermoregulation is an important mechanism allowing ectotherms to respond to thermal variations. Its efficiency might become imperative for securing activity budgets under future climate change. For diurnal lizards, thermal microhabitat variability appears to be of high importance, especially in hot deserts where vegetation is highly scattered and sensitive to climatic fluctuations. We investigated the effects of a shading gradient from vegetation on body temperatures and activity timing for two diurnal, terrestrial desert lizards, Ctenotus regius, and Morethia boulengeri, and analyzed their changes under past, present, and future climatic conditions. Both species’ body temperatures and activity timing strongly depended on the shading gradient provided by vegetation heterogeneity. At high temperatures, shaded locations provided cooling temperatures and increased diurnal activity. Conversely, bushes also buffered cold temperature by saving heat. According to future climate change scenarios, cooler microhabitats might become beneficial to warm‐adapted species, such as C. regius, by increasing the duration of daily activity. Contrarily, warmer microhabitats might become unsuitable for less warm‐adapted species such as M. boulengeri for which midsummers might result in a complete restriction of activity irrespective of vegetation. However, total annual activity would still increase provided that individuals would be able to shift their seasonal timing towards spring and autumn. Overall, we highlight the critical importance of thermoregulatory behavior to buffer temperatures and its dependence on vegetation heterogeneity. Whereas studies often neglect ecological processes when anticipating species’ responses to future climate change the strongest impact of a changing climate on terrestrial ectotherms in hot deserts is likely to be the loss of shaded microhabitats rather than the rise in temperature itself. We argue that conservation strategies aiming at addressing future climate changes should focus more on the cascading effects of vegetation rather than on shifts of species distributions predicted solely by climatic envelopes.

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Habitat heterogeneity affects the thermal ecology of an endangered lizard

Gaudenti

Nix

Maier

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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Global climate change is already contributing to the extirpation of numerous species worldwide, and sensitive species will continue to face challenges associated with rising temperatures throughout this century and beyond. It is especially important to evaluate the thermal ecology of endangered ectotherm species now so that mitigation measures can be taken as early as possible. A recent study of the thermal ecology of the federally endangered Blunt‐nosed Leopard Lizard (Gambelia sila) suggested that they face major activity restrictions due to thermal constraints in their desert habitat, but that large shade‐providing shrubs act as thermal buffers to allow them to maintain surface activity without overheating. We replicated this study and also included a population of G. sila with no access to large shrubs to facilitate comparison of the thermal ecology of G. sila populations in shrubless and shrubbed sites. We found that G. sila without access to shrubs spent more time sheltering inside rodent burrows than lizards with access to shrubs, especially during the hot summer months. Lizards from a shrubbed site had higher midday body temperatures and therefore poorer thermoregulatory accuracy than G. sila from a shrubless site, suggesting that greater surface activity may represent a thermoregulatory trade‐off for G. sila. Lizards at both sites are currently constrained from using open, sunny microhabitats for much of the day during their short active seasons, and our projections suggest that climate change will exacerbate these restrictions and force G. sila to use rodent burrows for shelter even more than they do now, especially at sites without access to shrubs. The continued management of shrubs and of burrowing rodents at G. sila sites is therefore essential to the survival of this endangered species.

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Why do lizards avoid weeds?

Cited by 31 publications

References 60 publications

Mechanisms of the impact of a weed (grader grass, Themeda quadrivalvis ) on reptile assemblage structure in a tropical savannah

Mechanisms of the impact of a weed (grader grass, Themeda quadrivalvis ) on reptile assemblage structure in a tropical savannah

Too hot to die? The effects of vegetation shading on past, present, and future activity budgets of two diurnal skinks from arid Australia

Habitat heterogeneity affects the thermal ecology of an endangered lizard

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