Habitat use in south-west European skinks (genus Chalcides )

PeerJ

article

Daniel Escoriza¹  Guillem Pascual³  Alberto Sánchez-Vialas⁴ 

[1] Institut Català de la Salut;Laboratory of Ecology, University Abdelmalek Essaâdi;Galanthus;Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales

关键词: Chalcides bedriagai;    Chalcides striatus;    Iberian Peninsula;    Microhabitat;    Niche overlap;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.4274

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundCongeneric species of reptiles frequently exhibit partitioning in terms of their use of habitats or trophic resources in order to reduce competition. In this study, we investigated habitat use by two species of European skinks: Chalcides bedriagai and Chalcides striatus, based on 49 records from southern France, Spain, and Portugal.MethodsWe measured three levels of niche descriptors: macroscale (climate, topography, and substrate), mesoscale (plant associations), and microscale (vegetation cover and shelters). We assessed the associations between these environmental descriptors and the occurrence of the skinks.ResultsOur results showed that the two species occupied opposite extremes of the ecological gradient i.e., C. bedriagai in semi-arid environments and C. striatus in temperate-oceanic environments, but there was broad ecological overlap in transitional climates at all of the habitat scales examined. This overlap was demonstrated by the presence of syntopy in geographically distant sites with different environmental characteristics.DiscussionThe morphological differences between the two species, and possibly their different use of microhabitats, might favor this mesoscale overlap between congeneric species, which is relatively unusual in Mediterranean lizards.

【 授权许可】

CC BY