Abstract
We used pitfall trapping to investigate the effects of elevation, plant density and soil structure on species diversity and the impact of these habitat factors on lizard habitat selectivity in the Qom Province in the Central Plateau of Iran. From a total of 12 1-ha plots, we captured 363 individuals of 15 species of lizards (six species of Lacertidae, five species of Agamidae, two species of Gekkonidae, one species of Varanidae and one species of Scincidae). A generalized linear model (GLM) determined that elevation was the most important factor impacting species diversity. The highest species diversity was at the intermediate elevation (1289 m). Abundance of 6 out of 15 species showed strong relationships with some habitat factors. These relationships were demonstrated by habitat selectivity index (Ivlev's index). Our result supports other surveys that showed that elevation plays an important role in determining lizard species diversity.
Highlights
Ecologists have investigated patterns of species diversity and the mechanisms of community assembly for many years [1], and lizards have often been used as model systems to explain patterns of species diversity [2,3,4]
We examined lizard species diversity and its association with major habitat features such as elevation, vegetation and soil structure through pitfall trapping in Qom Province in Central Plateau of Iran which is considered as an arid environment
The generalized linear model demonstrated that elevation was one of the most important variable associated with species diversity among the 12 plots (Table 4)
Summary
Ecologists have investigated patterns of species diversity and the mechanisms of community assembly for many years [1], and lizards have often been used as model systems to explain patterns of species diversity [2,3,4]. Lizards show extensive inter- and intraspecific variation in patterns of space use [3,5] and distribution, depending on environmental factors such as elevation, soil structure, vegetation [6,7] , as well as temperature and precipitation, which are usually correlated with elevation. These physical properties of the environment have an important role in defining the relationship between habitat and lizard species diversity. For instance Shenbrot and Krasnov [8] classified habitat types using factors that described vegetation and soil structure They reported that lizard richness, diversity and biomass changed among these habitat types within different landscapes. For instance they showed Mesalina olivieri avoids habitat with soil structure that have moderate gravel content
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