Environmental and vegetation variables have a greater influence than habitat fragmentation in structuring lizard communities in remnant urban bushland

Abstract

The expansion of urban areas and adjacent farming land into natural landscapes modifies habitats and produces small isolated pockets of native vegetation. This fragmentation of the natural habitat subdivides animal communities, reduces population sizes and increases vulnerability to extinction. In this paper we investigate whether fragmentation decreases lizard species richness, composition, overall abundance and abundance at the species level. Urban remnants consisting of five small ( 10 ha) fragments of natural bushland were paired with continuous bushland areas located near Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. These remnants were surveyed six times, using pitfall traps, from November 2001 to Marc..