Title | Foraging behavior of Uta stansburiana and Cnemidophorus tigris in two different habitats |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 1987 |
Authors | Peterson DK, Whitford WG |
Journal | The Southwestern Naturalist |
Volume | 32 |
Pagination | 427-433 |
Date Published | 1987 |
Call Number | 00253 |
Keywords | article, articles, behavior,lizards, Cnemidophorus, journal, journals, lizard,behavior, lizard,Cnemidophorus, lizard,foraging behavior, lizard,habitat modification, lizard,Uta, Uta |
Abstract | Foraging behavior of Uta stansburiana and Cnemidophorus tigris was studied in two different habitats in the Chihuahuan Desert. One habitat was "natural" Chihuahuan Desert dominated by shrubs. The other habitat had been modified with herbicide and was dominated by sub-shrubs and grasses. Uta stansburiana exhibited no preference for plant species or life forms when foraging in either habitat. Foraging C. tigris preferentially used mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) and, to a lesser extent, creosotebush (Larrea tridentata) in the natural habitat. In the grass dominated habitat, C. tigris used bush muhly (Muhlenbergis porteri). Cnemidophorus tigris spend more time foraging under plants with large litter accumulations. Shifts in vegetation from grassland to shrubland appear to favor C. tigris. |
URL | files/bibliography/87-SWNat-Whitford.pdf |
DOI | 10.2307/3671474 |