Abstract

SANTOYO-BRITO, Enrique  and  LEMOS-ESPINAL, Julio A.. Resource partitioning in lizards assemblages in the Chinipas Canyon, Chihuahua, Mexico. Acta Zool. Mex [online]. 2010, vol.26, n.2, pp.435-450. ISSN 2448-8445.

We studied the resource partitioning of time and space in lizard assemblages in three different plant associations (tropical deciduous forest [BTC], oak forest [BE], and pine forest [BP]) located in Chínipas' Canyon, Chihuahua, in which we observed sixteen lizard species of ten genera. The niche overlap was determined using Pianka's index while Simpson's formula was used for the calculation of the niche breadth. The results indicate that the niche overlap index values, per species pair, are generally lower than O_jk = 0.50. However, for the pseudo communities, generated with the survey information gathered from topical deciduous forests and pine forests, statistical values were obtained that suggest the existence of potential competition in regards to resource time in each vegetation association. The niche breadth values indicate that the individuals tend to be specialists when using time resource and generalists when using resource space. Sceloporus clarkii was the only species recorded in the three plant associations.

Keywords : Chihuahua; Ecology; Resources; Reptiles; Lizards.

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