Distribution, suitable areas and conservation status of the Boulenger’s agama (Agama boulengeri, Lataste 1886)

Abstract

bstract. Agama boulengeri is a West African endemic lizard. It occurs in arid rocky areas in the Mauritanian mountains and Kayes region of Mali. Data on the distribution of Agama boulengeri is however very coarse, and the contribution of climatic and habitat factors for population isolation are unknown. Using Maxent, GLM, and high-resolution data, we generated environmental niche models, and quantified suitable areas for species occurrence. Field observations and predicted suitable areas were used to evaluate the conservation status of Agama boulengeri. Results revealed the species occurs preferentially close to gueltas, bare areas, and rocky deserts and in areas of increasing rainfall. Suitable cells were mostly located in Mauritania, and four potentially fragmented subpopulations were identified. The conservation status of Agama boulengeri was determined to be of Least Concern.

Unravelling biodiversity, evolution and threats to conservation in the Sahara‐Sahel

“…Compilation and analysis of available species distribution data for Sahara‐Sahel fauna (Dumont, ; Le Berre, , ; Lévêque, ; Kingdon, ; Rödel, ; Denys, Granjon & Poulet, ; Crochet, Geniez & Ineich, ; Carranza et al ., , ; Geniez et al ., ; Wilson & Reeder, ; Baha El Din, ; Geniez & Arnold, ; Johnson et al ., ; Trape & Mané, ; Brito et al ., 2008, 2010, 2011 c ; Sindaco & Jeremčenko, ; Arnold, Robinson & Carranza, ; Granjon & Duplantier, ; Hoath, ; Nicolas et al ., ; Trape, ; Brahmi et al ., ; African Chiroptera Report, ; Ferreira et al ., ; Geniez, Padial & Crochet, ; Hekkala et al ., ; Wagner et al ., ; Trape, Chirio & Trape, ) indicates the presence of a total of 305 species of dragonflies, fishes, amphibians, reptiles and mammals, distributed mainly along a series of potential corridors and refugia (Table ). The role of mountains in deserts and arid regions as refugia now is being emphasised, and supported by studies in several taxa, such as ferns (Anthelme, Mato & Maley, ; Anthelme, Abdoulkader & Viane, ), fishes (Trape, ), amphibians and reptiles (Geniez & Arnold, ; Tellería et al ., ; Brito et al ., 2011 b , c ; Vale et al ., 2012 b ), birds (Tellería, ), and mammals (Busby et al ., ; Brito et al ., ; Vale, Álvares & Brito, 2012 a ). For instance, the Central Sahara mountains of Hoggar and Termit are major refugia for threatened large ungulates and carnivores [e.g.…”

“…Ecological niche modelling of Sahel mountain endemics has also identified restricted and relatively fragmented suitable habitats for some of these species [e.g. Felovia vae (Vale et al ., 2012 a ); Agama boulengeri (Vale et al ., 2012 b )]. Such models indicate that annual precipitation, precipitation of wettest month, and temperature annual range account for most of the environmental variation within the range of the Sahara‐Sahel vertebrates (Fig.…”

“…Such models indicate that annual precipitation, precipitation of wettest month, and temperature annual range account for most of the environmental variation within the range of the Sahara‐Sahel vertebrates (Fig. ), and geographical variation in rainfall and temperature are major factors related to the biodiversity distribution of vegetation (El‐Ghani, ), invertebrates (Patiny et al ., ), reptiles (Brito et al ., 2011 b ; Vale et al ., 2012 b ), and mammals (Brito et al ., ; Nyári, Peterson & Rathbun, ; Vale et al ., 2012 a ), and human‐related factors in threatened birds (Chammem et al ., ).…”

Atlas of the distribution of amphibians and reptiles in the Diawling National Park, Mauritania

“…A georeferenced database of fieldwork observations was created and complemented with published data (Arvy Tijane, 1997;Ineich, 1997;Brito, 2003;Crochet et al, 2003;Nickel, 2003;Padial, 2003Padial, , 2006Brito et al, 2008Brito et al, , 2012Vale et al, 2014;Observation International, 2017). Geographic coordinates of bibliographic references were collected from topographical maps of Mauritania (Institut Géographique National; scale 1:200 000).…”

“…This number was increased to 19 species with the inventories made during the project Bio d iversité du Littoral Mauritanien, which included two localities close to DNP (Arvy Tijane, 1997;Ineich, 1997). Posterior works targeting the distribution of amphibians and reptiles at country-level (Brito, 2003;Nickel, 2003;Padial, 2006;Brito et al, 2008) or of particular species (Crochet et al, 2003;Padial, 2003;Brito et al, 2012;Vale et al, 2014) have set the taxonomic list of DNP in two amphibians and 20 reptiles. However, data on species distribution at local scale and on areas concentrating most species are largely unavailable, which hampers conservation planning of biodiversity.…”