Electivities and resource use by an assemblage of lizards endemic to the dunes of the São Francisco River, northeastern Brazil

Abstract

This study describes the pattern of resource use by one assemblage of lizards inhabiting a desert-like dune field in the Brazilian Caatinga. We evaluated food and microhabitat availability and phases of lizard activity, as well as use of, and electivities for, food and microhabitats. Six of the seven most abundant species are endemic to the dunes, and their diets under-represented arthropods possessing chemical defenses. The two fossorial gymnophthalmids were similar in presenting no electivities for microhabitat but differed in diet, electivities for food and phase of activity. The five species of epigeous lizards include one group presenting positive electivities for protected and shaded microhabitats (Procellosaurinus erythrocercus, Briba brasiliana, and Tropidurus psammonastes) and another presenting negative electivities for such microhabitats (Eurolophosaurus divaricatus and Cnemidophorus spec. nov.). The tropidurid T. psammonastes presented the earliest activity in the morning, the strongest positive electivities for protected and shaded areas and negative electivity for exposed areas, and was the only species to present high positive electivity for ants. The only other tropidurid in the area, E. divaricatus, also ate ants but presented positive electivity for flowers. The medium-sized teiid Cnemidophorus spec. nov. showed the highest negative electivity for shaded areas, high positive electivity for open areas, and high negative electivity for protected areas. This pattern leads to use of microhabitat that is similar to that of E. divaricatus, which has a very different diet, and different from that of T. psammonastes, whose diet is comparable in the consumption of insect larvae and large-sized items. We discuss the evolution of the detected patterns of resource electivities.