Local segregation of realised niches in lizards

Sillero, Neftalí; Argaña, Elena; Matos, Cátia; Franch, Marc; Kaliontzopoulou, Antigoni; Carretero, Miguel A.

Abstract

Species can occupy different realised niches when sharing the space with other congeneric species or when living in allopatry. Ecological niche models are powerful tools to analyse species niches and their changes over time and space. Analysing how species’ realised niches shift is paramount in ecology. Here, we examine the ecological realised niche of three species of wall lizards in six study areas: three areas where each species occurs alone; and three areas where they occur together in pairs. We compared the species’ realised niches and how they vary depending on species’ coexistence, by quantifying niche overlap between pairs of species or populations with the R package ecospat. For this, we considered three environmental variables (temperature, humidity, and wind speed) recorded at each lizard re-sighting location. Realised niches were very similar when comparing syntopic species occurring in the same study area. However, realised niches differed when comparing conspecific populations across areas. In each of the three areas of syntopy, the less abundant species shift its realised niche. Our study demonstrates that sympatry may shift species’ realised niche.

Citation

Sillero, N., Argaña, E., Matos, C., Franch, M., Kaliontzopoulou, A., & Carretero, M. A. (2020). Local segregation of realised niches in lizards. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 9(12), Article 764. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi9120764

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 18, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Dec 21, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Deposit Date: Dec 14, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 15, 2022
• Journal: ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information
• Electronic ISSN: 2220-9964
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 12
• Article Number: 764
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi9120764
• Keywords: Iberian peninsula; Niche conservatism; Reptiles; R package ecospat; Spatial segregation
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4152689