Effect of agricultural activity on diet in an assemblage of lizards from Monte, Argentina

AVELLÁ MACHADO, ELÍN A.; MÉNDEZ OSORIO, YAMILA; BLANCO, GRACIELA M.; ACOSTA, JUAN C.

AUSTRAL ECOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2024 vol. 49

1442-9985

Even though the encroachment of agriculture is the main cause for biodiversity loss, studies have focused in tropical and temperate environment, mainly in birds, mammals and beneficial and/or pests´ invertebrates. However, little is known about the impact in poor environment or lizards communities. Our aim was to compare food use and availability in trophic resources in two assemblages of seven lizard (Liolaemus darwinii, L. riojanus, L. cuyanus, L. wiegmannii, Aurivela longicauda, Homonota underwoodi and Teius teyou) at a cultivated and a non-cultivated site in a desert area of San Juan, Argentina. We analysed lizard food preferences, taxonomic and functional diversity, dissimilarity and the relationship between morphological variables and prey item frequency. We found that the diet of six species, at both sites, was focused on Hymenoptera (