Effects of Anthropogenic Disturbance of Natural Habitats on the Feeding Ecology of Moorish Geckos

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Humans can alter the habitat quality and negatively affect many animals. However, some species seem able to cope with or even take advantage of these alterations. This study examines the effects of small anthropogenic alterations of a natural habitat on the feeding ecology of a gecko, Tarentola mauritanica. We compared geckos found in two contiguous small islands with either natural or human-altered seminatural habitats. Results showed that seminatural habitats differed from actual natural habitats in some microhabitat characteristics and in diversity of available prey. The diet of geckos also differed between habitats, being less diverse in altered habitats. However, the health state (body condition) of geckos was similar between habitats. These geckos seem able to modify their diet selection patterns to cope with anthropic disturbances of the habitat, which would allow them to inhabit and prosper in human-altered ecosystems. ABSTRACT: Urbanization and anthropic influences can drastically modify a natural habitat and transform it into an easily recognizable “urban habitat”. Human activities can also induce less severe modifications of what apparently might still look like natural habitats. Therefore, these subtle alterations may be hidden but can still cause important negative effects on plant and animals. In contrast, some species seem able to take advantage of these anthropic alterations. Here, we examined the possible effects of the anthropogenic disturbance of an apparent natural habitat on the feeding ecology and body condition of Moorish geckos, Tarentola mauritanica. For this, we compared microhabitat structure, invertebrate availability, the diet composition (estimated from fecal contents), diet selection patterns and body condition of the two populations of geckos inhabiting two contiguous small islands. These islands have similar environmental characteristics, but highly contrasting differences in urbanization and anthropogenic influence. We found that, although the abundance of potential invertebrate prey was similar on both habitats, the diversity of invertebrate prey was lower in the altered habitat. As a consequence, although composition of the diet of geckos was similar on both islands, the diversity of prey and food niche breadth were lower in the altered habitat, and patterns of diet selection changed. However, these inter-habitat differences did not seem to affect the body size and body condition of geckos. We discuss how flexibility in feeding ecology may allow some species to cope with small anthropic disturbances of the habitat.