Niche partitioning and resource utilizations among three, sympatric agamid lizards in Gingee hills- Southern Eastern Ghats, India

Abstract

We are reporting the ecological differences between three sympatric Indian agamids from Gingee hills between November 2015 to March 2016. In the present study, we have employed Visual Encounter Method (VES), target species namely, Sitana ponticeriana, Psammophilaus dorsalis, and Calotes versicolor. In this study, we examined agamid niche partitioning and microhabitat habitat utilizations. We also determined the environmental factors that drive agamid distribution in this region. We show that temperature and humidity affect agamid distribution and partition their niches. The occurrence of Sitana ponticeriana, Psammophilaus dorsalis, and Calotes versicolor ranged in temperatures between 30 to 35 °C, 29 to 34 °C and 28 to 33 °C, respectively. The humidity of the locations the three agamids occurred ranged from 52 to 65%, 49 to 65% and 48 to 65%. In addition, we also measured the activity budget of the three agamids and their elevational preference. This study shows niche partitioning between these three common Indian agamids.