Nonsynchronous Spatial Overlap of Lizards in Patchy Habitats

Abstract

Sympatric native Anolis species with similar structural habitats but contrasting climatic habitats are closer in head and body size on species—rich than on depauperate islands. In two localities, sympatric Anolis species with differential occurrences in sun or shade sought lower, more shaded perches during midday, resulting in partly nonsynchronous utilization of the vegetation by the two species. The second observation may be related to the first in the following way: nonsynchronous spatial overlap could dictate relatively great resource overlap for species coinhabiting patchy or edge areas, requiring great differences between the species in prey size in addition to those in climatic habitat. The extent of such overlap on small depauperate islands could be greater if these contained a greater proportion of patchy or edge habitats (with respect to insolation), or if climatic preferences were broader and more overlapping than on large, species—rich islands. In each locality, the relatively more shade—inhabiting species occurred more often on larger perches and on lower perches than did the other species. In both species of the Bermudan pair, adult males occupied higher and larger perches, and in grahami, shadier perches, than did female—sized individuals. The statistical significance of these and other differences was evaluated using several unweighted g 2 procedures, Cochran's weighted g 2 test and a partitioning technique for analyzing interactions among variables in complex contingency tables. The last method is described in detail in the papaer by Fienberg, immediately following this one.