the habitat of the endangered blunt-nosed leopard lizard!
TRANSCRIPT
The habitat of the endangered Blunt-nosed leopard lizard is determined by an interplay between native shrub cover and invasive grass abundance.
Alessandro Filazzola, Westphal M., Powers M., & Lortie. C.J.
Distributional records for blunt-nosed leopard lizardUSFWS 1998
Ciervo-PanocheNatural Area
Carrizo PlainNational Monument
Role of shrubs for lizards
Thermoregulation
Protection from predators
Territory landmark
Role of shrubs for lizards
Reduce invasive grass
Increase food availability
Burrows
Intermediaryspecies
+
-
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Purpose: What is the role of native shrubs for the blunt-nosed leopard lizards?
Hypothesis: Shrubs either directly provide a benefit to the leopard lizard and/or indirectly modify the landscape, such as altering grass cover.
Methods
Methods
Shrubs- Dimensions- Volume- Canopy cover- Burrows- Trails- Scat
Invasive grasses- Residual dry matter weight
Methods
Data analyses
Ordinary kriging -> for interpretation of intermediary points
Examining auto-correlation -> Moran’s I
Statistical tests -> Logistic regression
Microscale results
= 1.87; max = 7
Microscale results
N.S.LengthHeightVolumeTrailsBurrows
P < 0.001CanopyRDM
Lowest RDM, highest scat
Implications for conservation
Half of shrubs from 2013 also had scat in 2014
a) Lizard families from the previous year
b) The “Perfect” shrub
What is the perfect shrub?
Low invasive grass cover
Low shrub density <5000 km-2
With burrows
With a canopy >50 alive
Implications for conservation
Lizards have short home ranges, 2-4 hectares (Warrick et al. 1998)
= ~120 hectares
Implications for conservation
Lizards have short home ranges, 2-4 hectares (Warrick et al. 1998)
Manage for the “perfect” shrub
Thank you!!
Dr. Michael WestphalDr. Christopher LortieAmanda LicznerMichael PowersBLM Hollister Field Office
