Determining the success of varying short-term confinement time during simulated translocations of the endangered pygmy bluetongue lizard (Tiliqua adelaidensis)

Author version made available in accordance with the publisher's policyTranslocation is a powerful tool in conservation management, but one of the major problems of this tool is dispersal after release because of a tendency of animals to disperse from unfamiliar sites. We assessed whether short-term confinement within enclosures at the translocation site can significantly decrease post release movement, if confinement allowed animals to become familiar with the new habitat, and to overcome handling related stress. We simulated the translocation of the endangered pygmy bluetongue lizard Tiliqua adelaidensis into the centre of a large enclosure and compared the behaviour between individuals confined to the central region for one or five days before release. We found that lizards confined for five days spent less time basking, and were more likely to disperse than lizards confined for just one day. We suggest that short-term confinement of lizards induces additional stress and that extra days of short-term confinement will not necessarily improve the success of a translocation

Resources and their distribution can influence social behaviour at translocation sites: lessons from a lizard

Author version made available in accordance with the Publisher's policy, after an embargo period of 24 months from the date of publication. © 2015. Licensed under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/In a translocation programme, social interactions among released individuals can influence the tendency for the individuals to remain at the site where they have been released. Dispersal away from the region of release may reduce the success of a translocation because dispersing individuals may move into less suitable habitat, or become separated from potential reproductive partners. In soft releases, where individuals are confined together for periods of time at the release site, before ultimate release, social interactions among the confined individuals may promote subsequent dispersal. In this study we investigated how variation in the abundance and distribution of a fundamental habitat resource, refuge burrows, influenced behaviour and possible subsequent dispersal of newly released individuals of the endangered Australian pygmy bluetongue lizard, Tiliqua adelaidensis, in simulations of translocation releases. Our aim was to determine if there was an optimal distribution of burrow resources that would minimise behaviours likely to lead to dispersal from the release site. There were more lizard movement around burrows 3.73 (SE 0.02) and fewer burrow changes 0.06 (SE 0.006) in low burrow densities than in high burrow densities (1.88 (SE0.02) movements; 0.50 (SE 0.008) burrow changes per day). When lizards were released in burrows near to each other (50 cm) they changed burrows more often (0.97 (SE 0.01)) and had more agonistic interactions (0.04 (SE 0.004)) than when released in burrows further apart (150 cm; 0.22 (SE 0.009) burrow changes; 0.003 (SE 0.001) agonistic interactions). These results suggest changes in behaviour can be induced by altering the way resources are distributed at a release site. We suggest that understanding the social organisation of any endangered species, and whether it can be manipulated, will be an important component of planning a translocation release programme.This research was supported by the Australian Research Council (LP0883495

Behavioural changes in an endangered grassland lizard resulting from simulated agricultural activities

Author version made available in accordance with the Publisher's policy, after an embargo period of 24 months from the date of publication. © 2015. Licensed under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Agricultural modification of landscapes profoundly affect the habitat of endemic species. Most Australian native grasslands have now been taken over for agriculture activities, which have dramatically changed these grassland ecosystems. Now only tiny fragments of the once more continuous native grasslands remain, and this has had a negative impact on species that occupy this habitat. One important question is how agricultural activities have altered the behaviours of endemic species in these fragmented habitats. One such species is the endangered scincid lizard, Tiliqua adelaidensis, which is endemic to native grasslands in South Australia. Current population sites of this species are grazed by domestic stock. We found simulated grazing led to lower body mass increases in the lizards, increased the time that lizards spent basking at their burrow entrance, reduced the tendency of lizards to move outside of their burrow, or to move to a different burrow, but increased the tendency of lizards to disperse away from the patch of habitat provided. Simulated ploughing of the surrounding habitat led to a reduction in dispersal rates. These results suggest that heavy grazing would have adverse impacts on existing populations of Tiliqua adelaidensis. They confirm that lizards avoid ploughed substrate, perhaps explaining previous observations of extremely low gene flow between adjacent populations

Visual conspecific cues will not help in pygmy bluetongue lizard translocations

Author version made available in accordance with the Publisher's policy, after an embargo period of 24 months from the date of publication. © 2015. Licensed under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Where a translocation program is used to reinforce an existing population of an endangered species, the response of the introduced individuals to cues from conspecific residents will have an important impact on the success of the translocation. If those cues induce the translocated individuals to stay at the release site the translocation is more likely to succeed than if the cues cause individuals to move away. We used conspecific models of the endangered Australian pygmy bluetongue lizard to identify behavioural parameters relevant to translocation success, that change when the visual conspecific cues are presented. Pygmy bluetongue lizards typically remain in or at the entrance of their refuge burrows. In the presence of conspecific models, introduced lizards significantly increased, and nearly doubled, the number of movements out of their burrows (mean (SE) number of movements with models = 0.44 (0.03); without models = 0.25 (0.03); P = 0.012) and more than doubled the number of movements away from the release area (mean (SE) number of movements with models = 0.28 (0.03); without models = 0.08 (0.02); P = 0.003), suggesting they would be less likely to remain within a resident population where they were released. We found that, by the end of the first day of experimental trials 11 of 16 lizards in treatments with models present had occupied burrows that did not have a model nearby, and that number increased to 14 of 16 lizards by the fourth day. The results suggest that cues from conspecifics will not encourage translocated lizards to stay at a release site."We would like to thank all of our sponsored in this project, which include Australian Research Council

Morphohistological characteristic of digestive tract of an endemic cichlid fish, Iranocichla hormuzensis Coad, 1982 (Teleostei: Cichlidae)

Objective of the current study was to investigate morphohistology of digestive tract of Iranocichla hormuzensis, one of two native cichlid fishes in Iran. The species present omnivorous feeding habits and restricted in shallow, high temperatures and high salinity water in Mehran River and its drainages. This species has a terminal mouth with several rows of serrated incisive teeth, which covered the upper and lower lips. Esophagus is a short tubular between pharynx and stomach, stomach is relatively small and sac-shape, and intestine is long. Gastric wall, through the digestive tube, consists of four layers of mucosa, submucosa, muscularis, and serosa with some characters specialized for each organ, such as a well-developed mucosa layer and numerous goblet cell in the ventral section of stomach. Morphohistology of digestive tract of I. hormuzensis supports its generalist diet

Karyosystematics of Kol tooth-carp, Aphanius darabensis (Teleostei: Cyprinodontidae)

The karyological and cytological characteristics of an endemic cyprinodont fish of Iran, Aphanius darabensis Esmaeili, Teimori, Gholami & Reichenbacher, 2014 have been investigated for the first time by examining metaphase chromosomes spreads obtained from gill epithelial and kidney cells. The diploid chromosome number of A. darabensis is 48. The karyotype consisted of five submetacentric and 19 subtelocentric pairs of chromosomes (5sm+19st). The fundamental number (FN) is 58. Sex chromosomes were cytologically indistinguishable in this tooth-carp. According to this study and previous karyological reports from other cyprinodont species, it can be suggested that the diploid number (2n=48) is common amongst cyprinodont fishes. These results can be used as basic informations in population studies and management and conservation programs

Interactions between pygmy bluetongue lizards and co-existing species

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA on 14 June 2015, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/03721426.2015.1051644. This author version will be under embargo for a period of 12 months from the date of publicationThis paper describes observations of interactions between endangered pygmy bluetongue lizards (Tiliqua adelaidensis) and other species that co-occur in their native grassland habitat in the mid-north region of South Australia. The lizard lives in spider burrows, and rarely moves away from the burrow entrance. We viewed over 16,000 h of video recording of occupied pygmy bluetongue lizard burrows, taken over five 10 day periods throughout one complete lizard activity season, and documented all cases in which these endangered lizards interacted with co-existing species. We found that these interactions were infrequent. We observed potential competition over burrow resources with lycosid spiders (Lycosa spp), centipedes, and a house mouse, and potential competition over invertebrate prey with a predatory wasp. We also observed unsuccessful predation attempts on lizards in burrows by ravens and brown snakes. We suggest that conservation management might have proceeded effectively without this information, but that it provides useful background information for informed decision making

Short-term dispersal response of an endangered Australian lizard varies with time of year.

Dispersal is an important component in the demography of animal populations. Many animals show seasonal changes in their tendency to disperse, reflecting changes in resource availability, mating opportunities, or in population age structure at the time when new offspring enter the population. Understanding when and why dispersal occurs can be important for the management of endangered species. The pygmy bluetongue lizard is an endangered Australian species that occupies and defends single burrow refuges for extended periods of time, rarely moving far from the burrow entrance. However, previous pitfall trapping data have suggested movement of adult males in spring and of juveniles in autumn of each year. In the current study we compared behaviours of adult lizards each month, over the spring-summer activity period over two consecutive field seasons, to provide deeper understanding of the seasonal dispersal pattern. We released adult pygmy bluetongue lizards into a central area, provided with artificial burrows, within large enclosures, and monitored the behaviour and movements of the released lizards over a four day period. There was a consistent decline in time spent basking, amount of movement around burrow entrances, and rates of dispersal from the central release area from early spring to late summer. Results could be relevant to understanding and managing natural populations and for any translocation attempts of this endangered lizard species

Data from: Short-term dispersal response of an endangered Australian lizard varies with time of year

Dispersal is an important component in the demography of animal populations. Many animals show seasonal changes in their tendency to disperse, reflecting changes in resource availability, mating opportunities, or in population age structure at the time when new offspring enter the population. Understanding when and why dispersal occurs can be important for the management of endangered species. The pygmy bluetongue lizard is an endangered Australian species that occupies and defends single burrow refuges for extended periods of time, rarely moving far from the burrow entrance. However, previous pitfall trapping data have suggested movement of adult males in spring and of juveniles in autumn of each year. In the current study we compared behaviours of adult lizards each month, over the spring-summer activity period over two consecutive field seasons, to provide deeper understanding of the seasonal dispersal pattern. We released adult pygmy bluetongue lizards into a central area, provided with artificial burrows, within large enclosures, and monitored the behaviour and movements of the released lizards over a four day period. There was a consistent decline in time spent basking, amount of movement around burrow entrances, and rates of dispersal from the central release area from early spring to late summer. Results could be relevant to understanding and managing natural populations and for any translocation attempts of this endangered lizard species

The Ecological Associations of Surface-Dwelling Lizards in Qom Province in the Northwest of Central Plateau of Iran

We used pitfall trapping to investigate the effects of elevation, plant density and soil structure on species diversity and the impact of these habitat factors on lizard habitat selectivity in the Qom Province in the Central Plateau of Iran. From a total of 12 1-ha plots, we captured 363 individuals of 15 species of lizards (six species of Lacertidae, five species of Agamidae, two species of Gekkonidae, one species of Varanidae and one species of Scincidae). A generalized linear model (GLM) determined that elevation was the most important factor impacting species diversity. The highest species diversity was at the intermediate elevation (1289 m). Abundance of 6 out of 15 species showed strong relationships with some habitat factors. These relationships were demonstrated by habitat selectivity index (Ivlev's index). Our result supports other surveys that showed that elevation plays an important role in determining lizard species diversity