Diet, microhabitat use, and thermal preferences of Ptychoglossus bicolor (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) in an organic coffee shade plantation in Colombia
subject: Lagartos tropicales, Ptychoglossus bicolor, café orgânico, diet, dieta, ecology, ecología, organic coffee, tropical lizards
description: Ptychoglossus bicolor is a small gymnophthalmid lizard distributed in the Magdalena Valley of Colombia. We studied ecological features of diet, microhabitat use, and thermal preferences of a population found in an organic coffee shade plantation at the Cordillera Oriental of the Colombian Andes. The studied population had a diet composed predominantly of isopods. The Relative Importance Index of isopods was 98.8%; there were no significant monthly differences in the full stomach content and volume of isopods eaten during the sampling year, neither between rainy and dry seasons. A large number of lizards were found active in the leaf-litter, buried around coffee tree roots, and under or in rotting logs. Lizard body temperature was positively correlated with substrate temperature and air temperature; sex differences in body temperature were not significant. At the studied locality we did not find lizards out of the coffee fields. Our results suggested that these lizards successfully cope with the conditions offered by the organic coffee areas as a result of the cultivation system. Thus, this population might be vulnerable to any modification of the habitat that changes microhabitat availability and abundance of isopods.Ptychoglossus bicolor es un pequeño lagarto de la familia Gymnophthalmidae, que habita el valle del Río Magdalena de Colombia. Se estudiaron las características ecológicas de la dieta, uso de microhábitat y preferencias termales de una población que habita una plantación de café orgánico bajo sombra en la Cordillera Oriental colombiana. La dieta en esta población está dominada por isópodos. El Índice Valor de Importancia Relativa fue del 98.8% y no hubo diferencias mensuales significativas en el contenido estomacal y el volumen de isópodos consumidos durante el año, ni tampoco entre las estaciones de lluvia y seca. Un gran número de lagartos fueron encontrados activos entre la hojarasca, enterrados junto a las raíces de los árboles y bajo o dentro de tr…
creator: Martha P. Ramírez-Pinilla, Jaime M. Anaya-Rojas, Víctor H. Serrano-Cardozo
source: Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia
publisher: Universidade de São Paulo
date: 2010
relation: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0031-10492010001000001
coverage: Zoology