RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Road edge effect on the abundance of the lizard Gallotia galloti (Sauria: Lacertidae) in two Canary Islands forests
A1 Delgado García, Juan D.
A1 Arévalo, José Ramón
A1 Fernández-Palacios, José María
K1 Canary Islands
K1 Edge effect
K1 Gallotia galloti
K1 Laurel forest
K1 Lizards
K1 PCA
K1 Pine forest
K1 Road corridors
K1 Vegetation structure
K1 Islas Canarias
K1 efecto de borde
K1 laurisilva
K1 lagartos
K1 pinar
K1 estructura de la vegetación
K1 carreteras
AB Transportation infrastructure is a main cause of environmental change in forest landscapesworldwide. In the Canary Islands, a dense road system fragment the native Canarian pineand laurel forests causing potential changes in population densities of endemic lacertid lizards(genus Gallotia). Our aim was to assess road edge effects on relative abundance patterns of theendemic Gallotia galloti in both forests. We also explored the species–habitat relationships in thisroad-fragmentation context. We found that lizard relative density in relation to road edges differedbetween forests. Lizards were more abundant along edges and leeward interior, but virtually absentfrom the interior of the windward laurel forest. In the pine forest, lizards were present at threedistances from edge, with a net decrease in abundance from edge to interior. These patterns may beexplained partly by differences in vegetation structure regarding road proximity in each forest thatpotentially affect the helio- and thigmothermic character of G. galloti, and thus its habitat use. Ageneral suggestion of this study is that road margins create corridors that may be used by nativelizards for dispersal through inhospitable forest matrix. The high road density in Tenerife may havenegative implications for the conservation of the genetic variability of G. galloti. At the island scale,increased communication between lizard populations through road corridors might increasehomogenization of the gene pool. Ecological processes in which this lizard plays important rolesmay also experience changes along road edges.
PB Springer Netherlands
YR 2007
FD 2007
LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/18252
UL http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/18252
LA en
NO GRAFCAN
DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna
RD 28-abr-2024