Abstract
Pastoralism is a major agricultural activity in drier environments, and can directly and indirectly impact native species in those areas. We investigated how the supply of an artificial watering point to support grazing livestock affected movement and activity patterns of the Australian sleepy lizard (Tiliqua rugosa) during a drought year. We observed 23 adult lizards; six had access to a dam, whereas 17 lizards did not. Lizards with access to the dam had larger home ranges, were substantially active on more days (days with >100 steps), and moved more steps per day compared to lizards that did not have access to the dam, both during the early and late period of our observation. Furthermore, while the two groups of lizards had similar body condition early in the season, they differed later in the season. Lizards with dam access retained, whereas lizards without access lost body condition. Local heterogeneity in access to an artificial water resource resulted in spatially dependent behavioural variation among sleepy lizard individuals. This suggests that sleepy lizards have flexible responses to changing climatic conditions, depending on the availability of water. Furthermore, while reducing activity appears a suitable short term strategy, if harsh conditions persist, then access to dams could be of substantial benefit and could support sustained lizard activity and movement and allow maintenance of body condition. Hence, artificial watering points, such as the dams constructed by pastoralists, may provide local higher quality refugia for sleepy lizards and other species during drought conditions.
Highlights
Human land use, such as agriculture, has far reaching consequences beyond the local level [1]
We investigated how an artificial watering point, a human constructed dam affected activity and behaviour in the Australian sleepy lizard (Tiliqua rugosa), in a semi-arid habitat in the mid-north region of South Australia, during the drought year 2006
We identified lizards that had access and contacted the dam if their Global Positioning System (GPS) locations were recorded within the circle that we had specified as the dam area
Summary
Human land use, such as agriculture, has far reaching consequences beyond the local level [1]. Agricultural activities have been shown to contribute to biodiversity loss, species extinctions and range reductions largely through the replacement of natural ecosystems [3, 4]. In drier rangelands where pastoralism is a major form of agriculture, components of natural ecosystems remain, and certain agricultural activities can have beneficial influence on some native species [3, 5]. We investigate how rangeland use, and in particular the supply of an artificial watering point to support grazing of introduced ungulates, affected the spatial ecology and behaviour of a native Australian lizard species. Artificial watering points, either dams that store the run-off from ephemeral rainfall events, or bores that bring ground water to the surface, are typically used to supply water for grazing
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