Electronic supplementary material; A Cattle Egret Preying on a Takydromus sp.; A Cattle Egret Preying on a Takydromus sp. from Tail regeneration after autotomy increases survival: a case from a long-term monitored lizard population under avian predation

This file contains a 7-year monthly fluctuation of the four Avian predators and autotomy rates of the grass lizards, with details of model selection in survival estimation.; A cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) attacked and swallowed a Takydromus lizard. This bird corresponds to the major reason of adult mortality in the green-spotted grass lizard (Takydromus viridipunctatus) which inhabits open grasslands. Filmed by Miss Jen-Yu Kou.; Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) is the major predator contributing to adult mortality for Takydromus lizards. Photographed by Dr. Chia-Yang Tsai, under the support of Chi Sing Eco-conservation Foundation

Model selection from six candidate survival functions.

<p>The comparison of six survival functions with or without mean number of mites as an individual covariate for survival estimates of <i>Takydromus viridipunctatus</i>.</p><p>φ: survival; α: intercept; β: slope; m: males; f: females; ***: <0.0001. Survival functions were estimated in Cormack-Jolly-Seber models with time- and sex-varying recapture probabilities. The models with mean number of mites as an individual covariate (models 3–5) generally had lower AIC_c values and produced significantly better model fits than the reduced models (models 1&2), as evaluated by LR tests (model 1 versus 3, model 1 versus 5, model 2 versus 4, and model 2 versus 6).</p

Maximum recapture interval (A) and monthly survival rate (B) of <i>Takydromus viridipunctatus</i> against parasite load.

<p>This estimation was derived from 1104 adults during the breeding seasons of 2008 and 2009. The maximum recapture interval (in month) decreased with increasing mean parasite load (the mean number of mites of each capture), where the size of shaded circles is in proportion to the sample size (A). The solid and dashed lines (B) denote estimated survival with the 95% confidence intervals, indicating that monthly survival rate decreased with increasing mean number of mites. The covariate plot is based on model 3 in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0056720#pone-0056720-t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a> and its maximum likelihood estimates, logit(φ) = 1.614±0.318 (SE)−0.032±0.007×(mean number of mites).</p

Correlations between individual heterozygosity and parasite load in <i>Takydromus viridipunctatus</i>.

<p>The parasite load (i.e., the number of the trombiculid mites <i>Leptotrombidium</i> sp. on each lizard) increased with decreasing standardized mean <i>d²</i> (A) and increasing HL (B) in male <i>T. viridipunctatus</i>. The parasite load did not change with the standardized mean <i>d²</i> (C) but decreased with increasing HL (D) in female <i>T. viridipunctatus</i>. Each circle denotes one individual.</p

The <i>Takydromus</i> lizard and trombiculid mites.

<p>An adult male <i>Takydromus viridipunctatus</i> during the breeding season showing lateral green spots (A), and three different individuals with low (B), median (C) and high (D) infestation by trombiculid mites.</p

Correlations between individual heterozygosity and scalation asymmetry in <i>Takydromus viridipunctatus</i>.

<p>The scalation asymmetry increased with decreasing standardized mean <i>d²</i> (A) and increasing HL (B) in male <i>T. viridipunctatus</i>. The scalation asymmetry did not change with standardized mean <i>d²</i> (C) but increased with increasing HL (D) in female <i>T. viridipunctatus</i>. Each circle denotes one individual.</p