Use of microhabitat and activity patterns of two lizard species from a seasonal dry forest in northern Colombia

Luis Fernando Montes,Pedro Luis Atencia,Cristian José Castillo

doi:10.3897/neotropical.15.e49713

Abstract

In this work, the microhabitat use and activity patterns of two lizard species with sympatric distribution were evaluated in a dry forest fragment within the department of Sucre, northern Colombia. Data was collected in May, June, September and October of 2017, using the active search method limited by time (7:00 and 19:00 hours). Substrates used, spatial distribution and time of capture were recorded for individuals of the species Loxopholis rugiceps (Cope 1869) and Lepidoblepharis sanctaemartae (Ruthven 1916). Complementarily, environmental and physical parameters were recorded, which allowed us to characterise the microhabitats of the species. A total of 276 lizards were recorded, 177 belonging to the species Loxopholis rugiceps and 99 to Lepidoblepharis sanctaemartae. The results showed similar resource use by the two species for the spatial dimension, with both exploiting different terrestrial elements mainly from the interior forest, followed by the riverbed stream and forest edge. Differences were found in the daily activity patterns between species, with individuals of L. sanctaemartae more frequently recorded in the morning hours and L. rugiceps in the afternoon hours. The activity patterns did not differ by age groups: juveniles and adults. Both species were more frequently found in the litter substrate within the forest, followed by rocks and bare ground. Our results indicate that both species are tolerant to matrix conditions, however, they require internal forest conditions to exploit food resources and refuge.

Highlights

Microhabitat is defined as a finer scale in the landscape relevant to an individual, which is usually associated with its foraging, perch or refuge sites; while activity is determined as the frequency of active individuals in a particular range of daily hours (Carretero and Llorente 1993; Pianka 1986)
Body dimensions were similar for males and females of the species L. rugiceps; whereas for L. sanctaemartae the total length was greater in females, being these differences significant (t = 43.72, p < 0.001), individuals of both sexes were not differentiated in relation to the length of the tail (Table 1)
The activity pattern observed for the two species shows significant differences in terms of the frequency of active individuals throughout the day (χ2 = 32.82, df = 11, p < 0.001), individuals of Loxopholis rugiceps were recorded more frequently in the afternoon hours, while Lepidoblepharis sanctaemartae showed higher records in the morning hours (Fig. 2); Juveniles and adults of the two species do not differ in their activity patterns

Summary

Introduction

Microhabitat is defined as a finer scale in the landscape relevant to an individual, which is usually associated with its foraging, perch or refuge sites; while activity is determined as the frequency of active individuals in a particular range of daily hours (Carretero and Llorente 1993; Pianka 1986). The time interval in which these organisms are active is related to the type of climate, intensity of sunlight, duration of photoperiod, temperature of the environment and the activity time of their prey (Hatano et al 2001), while lizard microhabitats are directly influenced by microclimatic factors, as well as by food availability and refuge (Huey 1991) Both aspects of lizard’s ecological niches (space and time) can be influenced by other factors such as intra and interspecific coexistence and seasonal variation in environmental conditions (Salzburg 1984; Paulissen 1988). Interspecific resource partitioning has been reported in tropical populations mainly in relation to spatial niche dimensions (Vitt and Zani 1996), but temporal segregation can occur between terrestrial lizards coexisting in variable environments (Pianka 1986)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion