TY - JOUR
T1 - An experimental study of interspecific interactions between two Puerto Rican Anolis lizards
AU - Leal, Manuel
AU - Rodríguez-Robles, Javier A.
AU - Losos, Jonathan B.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements We thank D. Spiller for advice and comments on the manuscript, G.R. Camilo and R.B. Waide for logistic advice, and the U.S. Forest Service and Department of Natural and Environmental Resources of Puerto Rico for permission to conduct this research. This work was partially funded by the Carl B. Koford Memorial Fund, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley to J.A.R and by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF 9318642 and NSF 9407202) to J.B.L.
PY - 1998
Y1 - 1998
N2 - We analyzed the impact of interspecific interactions between two ecologically and morphologically distinct Puerto Rican lizards, Anolis gundlachi and A. evermanni, in an experimental design consisting of six 20 x 20 m plots divided into three blocks, each consisting of a pair of experimental and control plots. We removed A. gundlachi from experimental plots and monitored the response of A. evermanni. The reduction in the number of A. gundlachi resulted in a significant increase in the abundance of both adult and juvenile A. evermanni. We found no evidence for a shift in structural habitat use in A. evermanni in experimental plots. Two possible mechanisms, interspecific competition and intraguild predation, could explain the increase in abundance of A. evermanni after the removal of A. gundlachi. These results make clear that interactions still occur between A. gundlachi and A. evermanni even given their morphological and ecological differences.
AB - We analyzed the impact of interspecific interactions between two ecologically and morphologically distinct Puerto Rican lizards, Anolis gundlachi and A. evermanni, in an experimental design consisting of six 20 x 20 m plots divided into three blocks, each consisting of a pair of experimental and control plots. We removed A. gundlachi from experimental plots and monitored the response of A. evermanni. The reduction in the number of A. gundlachi resulted in a significant increase in the abundance of both adult and juvenile A. evermanni. We found no evidence for a shift in structural habitat use in A. evermanni in experimental plots. Two possible mechanisms, interspecific competition and intraguild predation, could explain the increase in abundance of A. evermanni after the removal of A. gundlachi. These results make clear that interactions still occur between A. gundlachi and A. evermanni even given their morphological and ecological differences.
KW - Anolis
KW - Habitat partitioning
KW - Interspecific interactions
KW - Intraguild predation
KW - Puerto Rico
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0032425390&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s004420050658
DO - 10.1007/s004420050658
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0032425390
SN - 0029-8549
VL - 117
SP - 273
EP - 278
JO - Oecologia
JF - Oecologia
IS - 1-2
ER -