Long-interval monitoring reveals changes in the structure of a reptile community in a biogeographic transition zone

Ferreira, Diana; Brito, JosÃ© C; Santos, Xavier

doi:10.11160/bah.85

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Although it is a habitat-generalist species [35], it prefers habitats with low shrub cover [36]. Moreover, P. algirus is often found in recently burnt areas, suggesting a high ability to survive fire [37][38][39]. Dispersal ability of P. algirus is low (less than 20 m [40]), and its home range (usually less than 100 m 2 [41]) is smaller than the typical wildfires occurring in the Mediterranean area [42,43].…”

Section: Methods (A) Study Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire reduces parasite load in a Mediterranean lizard

et al. 2021

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Wildfires are a natural disturbance in many ecosystems. However, their effect on biotic interactions has been poorly studied. Fire consumes the vegetation and the litter layer where many parasites spend part of their life cycles. We hypothesize that wildfires reduce habitat availability for parasites with consequent potential benefits for hosts. We tested this for the lizard Psammodromus algirus and its ectoparasites in a Mediterranean ecosystem. We predicted that lizards in recently burned areas would have lower parasite load (cleaning effect) than those in unburned areas and that this phenomenon implies that lizards spending their entire lives in postfire conditions experience a lower level of parasitism than those living in unburned areas. We compared the ectoparasite load of lizards between eight paired burned/unburned sites, including recent (less than 1 year postfire) and older fires (2–4 years). We found that lizards' ectoparasites prevalence was drastically reduced in recently burned areas. Likewise, lizards in older burned areas showed less evidence of past parasitic infections. Fire disrupted the host–parasite interaction, providing the opportunity for lizards to avoid the negative effects of ectoparasites. Our results suggest that wildfires probably fulfil a role in controlling vector-borne diseases and pathogens, and highlight ecological effects of wildfires that have been overlooked.

show abstract

Section: Methods (A) Study Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire reduces parasite load in a Mediterranean lizard

et al. 2021

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In eastern Iberian Peninsula, P. algirus inhabits a great variety of habitats from forests to open vegetation, and tends to select microhabitats with low shrub cover (Diaz and Carrascal 1991;Martı ń and Lopez 2002). It also occurs in recently burned areas, suggesting some postfire survival ability (Santos and Poquet 2010;Ferreira et al 2018). Given that this species is common in both fire-prone and non-fire-prone habitats, it constitutes a good species model to study variations in their behavior in response to fire stimuli.…”

Section: Species Model and Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire-driven behavioral response to smoke in a Mediterranean lizard

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The evolutionary role of fire in animals has been poorly explored. Reptiles use sensory cues, such as smell (chemoreception), to detect threats and flee. In Mediterranean ecosystems, fire is a threat faced by reptiles. We hypothesized that the Mediterranean lizard Psammodromus algirus recognizes the threat of fire by detecting the smoke, which triggers a behavioral response that enhances survival in fire-prone ecosystems. We predicted that lizards from fire-prone ecosystems will be more sensitive to fire stimulus than those from ecosystems that rarely burn. We conducted a terrarium experiment in which lizards from habitats with contrasted fire regimes (fire-prone vs. non-fire-prone) were exposed to smoke versus control (false smoke) treatment. We found that, in populations from fire-prone habitats, more lizards reacted to smoke, and their behavioral response was more intense than in lizard populations from non-fire-prone habitats. Our results suggest that an enhanced response to smoke may be adaptive in lizards from fire-prone ecosystems as it increases the chance for survival. We provide evidence that fire is likely an evolutionary driver shaping behavioral traits in lizard populations exposed to frequent wildfires. Understanding ecological and evolutionary processes shaping animal populations is relevant for species conservation in a changing fire regime world.

show abstract