Lizard abundance in forest fragments: effects of patch size, patch shape, thermoregulation, and habitat quality

The effects of forest fragmentation on ecosystems are pervasive, but little is known about the factors that influence lizard abundance in fragmented landscapes. We studied the roles of patch size and shape, thermal quality, and refuge availability as predictors of the relative abundance of Psammodro...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Díaz González-Serrano, José Augusto, Santos Martínez, Tomás, Llanos Garrido, Alejandro
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/125065
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/125065
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:574.4
597.5
Croplands
Edge effects
Operative temperature
Predation
Psammodromus algirus
Thermoregulation
Ecología (Biología)
Reptiles
2401 Biología Animal (Zoología)
id ES_752c5d482227602c1968237219fa5dfd
oai_identifier_str oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/125065
network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
repository_id_str
spelling Lizard abundance in forest fragments: effects of patch size, patch shape, thermoregulation, and habitat qualityDíaz González-Serrano, José AugustoSantos Martínez, TomásLlanos Garrido, Alejandro574.4597.5CroplandsEdge effectsOperative temperaturePredationPsammodromus algirusThermoregulationEcología (Biología)Reptiles2401 Biología Animal (Zoología)The effects of forest fragmentation on ecosystems are pervasive, but little is known about the factors that influence lizard abundance in fragmented landscapes. We studied the roles of patch size and shape, thermal quality, and refuge availability as predictors of the relative abundance of Psammodromus algirus lizards at deciduous or evergreen forest fragments surrounded by cereal fields. Relative abundance, based on time-controlled counts, decreased from the northeast (dominated by deciduous habitat) to the southwest (with a higher cover of croplands, and dominated by evergreen habitat). Refuge availability was correlated with this gradient, decreasing from the northeast to the southwest and being larger in deciduous than in evergreen fragments. After controlling for the effects of this environmental variation, lizard abundance increased as perimeter-to-area ratio (P/A) decreased (and consequently as fragment size increased). Although the effects of thermal quality as such were negligible, our results can be interpreted in the light of thermoregulatory requirements; given the low temperatures available at shaded locations, lizards should actively select sunlit patches while they try to minimize predation risk by basking as close as possible to the nearest refuge. Although use of fragment edges as basking sites is expected to increase with P/A ratio, lizards should avoid using them as basking sites, because both exposure to predators and risk of overheating are expected to be higher at edges and croplands than inside fragments. We conclude that long and narrow forest strips with high P/A ratios could act as ecological traps rather than as dispersion-promoting corridors.BrillUniversidad Complutense de Madrid20242024-05-0120242024-05-01journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501AMhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_ab4af688f83e57aainfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/125065reponame:Docta Complutenseinstname:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)Inglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/1250652026-06-02T12:44:21Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Lizard abundance in forest fragments: effects of patch size, patch shape, thermoregulation, and habitat quality
title Lizard abundance in forest fragments: effects of patch size, patch shape, thermoregulation, and habitat quality
spellingShingle Lizard abundance in forest fragments: effects of patch size, patch shape, thermoregulation, and habitat quality
Díaz González-Serrano, José Augusto
574.4
597.5
Croplands
Edge effects
Operative temperature
Predation
Psammodromus algirus
Thermoregulation
Ecología (Biología)
Reptiles
2401 Biología Animal (Zoología)
title_short Lizard abundance in forest fragments: effects of patch size, patch shape, thermoregulation, and habitat quality
title_full Lizard abundance in forest fragments: effects of patch size, patch shape, thermoregulation, and habitat quality
title_fullStr Lizard abundance in forest fragments: effects of patch size, patch shape, thermoregulation, and habitat quality
title_full_unstemmed Lizard abundance in forest fragments: effects of patch size, patch shape, thermoregulation, and habitat quality
title_sort Lizard abundance in forest fragments: effects of patch size, patch shape, thermoregulation, and habitat quality
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Díaz González-Serrano, José Augusto
Santos Martínez, Tomás
Llanos Garrido, Alejandro
author Díaz González-Serrano, José Augusto
author_facet Díaz González-Serrano, José Augusto
Santos Martínez, Tomás
Llanos Garrido, Alejandro
author_role author
author2 Santos Martínez, Tomás
Llanos Garrido, Alejandro
author2_role author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Universidad Complutense de Madrid
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv 574.4
597.5
Croplands
Edge effects
Operative temperature
Predation
Psammodromus algirus
Thermoregulation
Ecología (Biología)
Reptiles
2401 Biología Animal (Zoología)
topic 574.4
597.5
Croplands
Edge effects
Operative temperature
Predation
Psammodromus algirus
Thermoregulation
Ecología (Biología)
Reptiles
2401 Biología Animal (Zoología)
description The effects of forest fragmentation on ecosystems are pervasive, but little is known about the factors that influence lizard abundance in fragmented landscapes. We studied the roles of patch size and shape, thermal quality, and refuge availability as predictors of the relative abundance of Psammodromus algirus lizards at deciduous or evergreen forest fragments surrounded by cereal fields. Relative abundance, based on time-controlled counts, decreased from the northeast (dominated by deciduous habitat) to the southwest (with a higher cover of croplands, and dominated by evergreen habitat). Refuge availability was correlated with this gradient, decreasing from the northeast to the southwest and being larger in deciduous than in evergreen fragments. After controlling for the effects of this environmental variation, lizard abundance increased as perimeter-to-area ratio (P/A) decreased (and consequently as fragment size increased). Although the effects of thermal quality as such were negligible, our results can be interpreted in the light of thermoregulatory requirements; given the low temperatures available at shaded locations, lizards should actively select sunlit patches while they try to minimize predation risk by basking as close as possible to the nearest refuge. Although use of fragment edges as basking sites is expected to increase with P/A ratio, lizards should avoid using them as basking sites, because both exposure to predators and risk of overheating are expected to be higher at edges and croplands than inside fragments. We conclude that long and narrow forest strips with high P/A ratios could act as ecological traps rather than as dispersion-promoting corridors.
publishDate 2024
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2024
2024-05-01
2024
2024-05-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
AM
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_ab4af688f83e57aa
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/125065
url https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/125065
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Brill
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Brill
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Docta Complutense
instname:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
instname_str Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
reponame_str Docta Complutense
collection Docta Complutense
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,812429

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