The role of fire history, land-use, and vegetation structure on the response of Mediterranean lizards to fire

Pinto, Tiago; Moreira, Bruno; Freitas, Helena; Santos, Xavier

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2018.03.029

Cited by 13 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Our results suggest that historic olive groves, like those in the archaeological site, are often categorised by relatively low tree density that could potentially be similar in density to natural forests of the region. In addition, historic olive groves likely have more biodiversity value than modern olive tree farms because historic olive groves have lower tree density, more diverse community of native and fruit trees, and older olive trees have a greater number of niches, such as tree cavities, greater branching extant and branch size heterogeneity, all of which contributes to biodiversity potential (Awad and Attum, 2017;Lee and Goodale, 2018;Pinto et al, 2018). We observed S. stello basking and escaping into the trunk openings in older olive trees.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors contributing to the biodiversity value of an archaeological landscape in Jordan

Attum¹

2022

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Archeological landscapes are important places because they protect areas of historical importance, shape cultural and national identity, are recreational spaces, and vital sources of tourism revenue. Archaeological landscapes have the potential to assist in reptile conservation. The objective of this study was to compare the diurnal reptile richness of an archaeological site to the reptile richness of a nature reserve (treatment control for biodiversity value) and a modern olive grove (treatment control for poor biodiversity value). Our results suggest that archaeological landscapes provide valuable reptile habitat, as our archaeological site supported similar reptile richness as the natural site, with both sites having higher species richness than the modern olive tree farm. The high reptile richness and densities were the result of high potential food availability and habitat mosaic of relatively low tree density and open areas with exposed, tall, rocky ruins. Reptile richness had a negative relationship with tree density. The ruins and high food availability of the archaeological site supported higher densities of saxaphilic lizard species as the density of these species increased as mean maximum rock height and percentage of green ground vegetation cover increased. Promoting the reptile richness of archaeological sites provides another justification for the protection and visitor appreciation for archaeological sites as places of historical, cultural and biodiversity importance. Keywords: Stellagama stellio, Ptyodactylus puiseuxi, reptile richness, rock outcroppings, vegetation greenness indices

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors contributing to the biodiversity value of an archaeological landscape in Jordan

Attum¹

2022

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“…We treated lizard numbers on each transect survey as the response variable and used generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) to determine the effect of snake presence, the four structural habitat variables (tree, shrub, earthy soil, and rocky soil), and the interaction snake presence * tree presence, on lizard abundance. We included that interaction because, from the habitat variables, the most critical is tree cover, since it influences reptile abundances in Mediterranean habitats ( Pinto et al 2018 ). We treated snake presence, the structural habitat variables, and the interaction of two variables, as fixed effects, and survey unit (1–3) as a random effect.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Collapse of the endemic lizard Podarcis pityusensis on the island of Ibiza mediated by an invasive snake

et al. 2021

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The invasive snake Hemorrhois hippocrepis colonized the island of Ibiza (Balearic Islands) in 2003 as stowaways inside trunks of olive trees imported for gardening. It has quickly spread since 2010, posing a threat to the island’s only remaining endemic vertebrate, the Ibiza wall lizard Podarcis pityusensis. We map the yearly expansion rate of the snake and estimate via transect surveys how severely it affects the distribution and abundance of the endemic lizard. As well, we surveyed nine of 30 small lizard populations on islets surrounding Ibiza that have been isolated since the Last Glacial Maximum. Snakes had invaded 49% of Ibiza’s land area by 2018, and censuses show a critical contrast in lizard abundance between areas with and without snakes; almost all censuses in areas without snakes show lizard presence whereas nearly all censuses in areas with H. hippocrepis lack lizard sightings. Moreover, at least one subspecies previously thriving on one of the offshore islets has become extinct, and there have been several snakes recorded swimming between Ibiza and the surrounding islets. Therefore, lizard populations have been dramatically reduced or have vanished within the range of the snake, and our results quantitatively support upgrading this species’ threat level for extinction. This study can inform to programs to manage invasive snake populations and to conservation actions to recover the endemic lizard.

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“…Unburnt areas within an extensive wildfire boundary are typically small and provide limited refuge for fauna escaping the fire (Banks et al., 2011; Von Takach et al., 2022; Watson et al., 2012). However, they offer critical resources for individuals to persist; and may facilitate the recolonization of fire‐sensitive species into the surrounding burnt area as it recovers (Diffendorfer et al., 2012; Hale et al., 2022; Pinto et al., 2018). Unburnt areas are not only critically important for maintaining fauna populations during a wildfire but also in the post‐fire recovery and recolonization phase (Banks et al., 2011; Reynolds et al., 2022; Shaw et al., 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unburnt areas in subtropical woodlands contain distinct reptile communities after extensive wildfire

Emery,

Doherty,

Bruton

et al. 2024

Austral Ecology

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Extensive wildfires can have profound impacts on fauna communities by altering the vegetation structure and resource availability. However, unburnt areas within a fire mosaic may be important habitat for wildlife while the surrounding area recovers after fire. To understand the importance of unburnt vegetation for reptiles, we studied community assemblages at 15 burnt and 15 unburnt sites in a subtropical woodland 12 months after a 25 000 ha wildfire. We tested the relative importance of unburnt areas and structural attributes on reptile abundance, richness, and community composition across this landscape. Unburnt areas had higher species richness and diversity, but not overall abundance. Reptile community composition differed significantly between burnt and unburnt areas. Woody debris, which was retained in unburnt areas but depleted in burnt areas, was positively associated with increased reptile diversity and richness. Our results suggest that unburnt areas are vital for maintaining reptile diversity and richness within a woodland landscape after wildfire. These findings demonstrate the importance of ensuring fire management programs retain unburnt patches of vegetation in fire‐prone landscapes to sustain reptile communities.

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The role of fire history, land-use, and vegetation structure on the response of Mediterranean lizards to fire

Cited by 13 publications

References 54 publications

Factors contributing to the biodiversity value of an archaeological landscape in Jordan

Factors contributing to the biodiversity value of an archaeological landscape in Jordan

Collapse of the endemic lizard Podarcis pityusensis on the island of Ibiza mediated by an invasive snake

Unburnt areas in subtropical woodlands contain distinct reptile communities after extensive wildfire

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