Diet, microhabitat use, and thermal preferences of Ptychoglossus bicolor (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) in an organic coffee shade plantation in Colombia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0031-10492010001000001Keywords:
Ptychoglossus bicolor, Diet, Ecology, Tropical lizards, Organic coffeeAbstract
Ptychoglossus bicolor is a small gymnophthalmid lizard distributed in the Magdalena Valley of Colombia. We studied ecological features of diet, microhabitat use, and thermal preferences of a population found in an organic coffee shade plantation at the Cordillera Oriental of the Colombian Andes. The studied population had a diet composed predominantly of isopods. The Relative Importance Index of isopods was 98.8%; there were no significant monthly differences in the full stomach content and volume of isopods eaten during the sampling year, neither between rainy and dry seasons. A large number of lizards were found active in the leaf-litter, buried around coffee tree roots, and under or in rotting logs. Lizard body temperature was positively correlated with substrate temperature and air temperature; sex differences in body temperature were not significant. At the studied locality we did not find lizards out of the coffee fields. Our results suggested that these lizards successfully cope with the conditions offered by the organic coffee areas as a result of the cultivation system. Thus, this population might be vulnerable to any modification of the habitat that changes microhabitat availability and abundance of isopods.Downloads
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Published
2010-01-01
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Responsibility: The scientific content and the opinions expressed in the manuscript are the sole responsibility of the author(s).
Copyrights: Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia. The journal is licensed under a Creative Commons attribution-type CC-BY.
How to Cite
Anaya-Rojas, J. M., Serrano-Cardozo, V. H., & Ramírez-Pinilla, M. P. (2010). Diet, microhabitat use, and thermal preferences of Ptychoglossus bicolor (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) in an organic coffee shade plantation in Colombia . Papéis Avulsos De Zoologia, 50(10), 159-166. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0031-10492010001000001