Population Biology of the Rare Florida Scrub Lizard in Fragmented Habitat
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-2004
Keywords
Fecundity, Florida scrub lizard, Fragmented habitat, Population growth, Predation, Survival
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1655/01-66
Abstract
We completed a 3-yr demographic study of the rare Florida scrub lizard, Sceloporus woodi Stejneger, in a small habitat fragment. Censuses were conducted at 2–7 d intervals, with all hatchlings marked and monitored for survival. Field and laboratory observations were used to estimate fecundity. Survival and fecundity data were combined to estimate population growth rate. Sensitivity of the population growth rate to changes in survival and fecundity was examined by both retrospective and prospective analyses.
Survival rates of cohorts declined throughout the study. The decline in survival rates resulted principally from the low survival rates of reproductive females and resulted, in turn, in a negative population growth rate. Subsequent visits to the study site indicated that the population did not decline to extinction, but the factors that affected survival rates are not known. We present some evidence for the potential importance of predation by snakes.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Herpetologica, v. 60, issue 1, p. 54-61
Scholar Commons Citation
McCoy, Earl D.; Hartmann, Patricia P.; and Mushinsky, Henry R., "Population Biology of the Rare Florida Scrub Lizard in Fragmented Habitat" (2004). Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications. 148.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/bin_facpub/148
