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Habitat selection by the Spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx aegyptia): A view from spatial analysis

Many factors affect the habitat selection for animal species, which in turn may greatly affect their distribution in different ecosystems. Understanding the processes that affect habitat selection is also critical for guiding and managing conservation initiatives. Our study aimed to assess the habit...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: AlRashidi, Monif, Abdelgadir, Mohanad, Shobrak, Mohammed
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8381032/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34466079
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.05.020
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author AlRashidi, Monif
Abdelgadir, Mohanad
Shobrak, Mohammed
author_facet AlRashidi, Monif
Abdelgadir, Mohanad
Shobrak, Mohammed
author_sort AlRashidi, Monif
collection PubMed
description Many factors affect the habitat selection for animal species, which in turn may greatly affect their distribution in different ecosystems. Understanding the processes that affect habitat selection is also critical for guiding and managing conservation initiatives. Our study aimed to assess the habitat selection by free-ranging Spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx aegyptia) by analyzing a geospatial data connecting its burrow parameters to different habitat characteristics within selected sites in Hail region, Saudi Arabia. We examined evidence and patterns of significant spatial clustering for (366) active burrows by linking their parameters (burrow entrance size, burrow entrance width and burrow entrance height), their reference geographical locations and, two habitat characteristics defined by soil type and vegetation cover. The objective of the analysis was to increase the understanding on the burrows aggregation process in the space and, to describe its possible relation to other spatial habitat configurations. Analysis of distances based on the Nearest Neighbor Index (NNI) and hotspots detection in Nearest neighbor hierarchical clustering (Nnh) suggested twelve (12) spatial clusters located within the study area. In addition, a spatial ordinary least square (OLS) and Poisson regression models revealed significant effects of soil type and vegetation cover on burrow parameters (OLS, p < 0.05; Poisson, p < 0.001), which indicate a strong association between burrows parameters and habitats characteristics. Findings from the study also suggest that other factors such as elevations, highways, and human settlement concentration spots could possibly play a major role in defining burrow spatial aggregation and furthermore have a significant impact on habitat selection.
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spelling pubmed-83810322021-08-30 Habitat selection by the Spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx aegyptia): A view from spatial analysis AlRashidi, Monif Abdelgadir, Mohanad Shobrak, Mohammed Saudi J Biol Sci Original Article Many factors affect the habitat selection for animal species, which in turn may greatly affect their distribution in different ecosystems. Understanding the processes that affect habitat selection is also critical for guiding and managing conservation initiatives. Our study aimed to assess the habitat selection by free-ranging Spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx aegyptia) by analyzing a geospatial data connecting its burrow parameters to different habitat characteristics within selected sites in Hail region, Saudi Arabia. We examined evidence and patterns of significant spatial clustering for (366) active burrows by linking their parameters (burrow entrance size, burrow entrance width and burrow entrance height), their reference geographical locations and, two habitat characteristics defined by soil type and vegetation cover. The objective of the analysis was to increase the understanding on the burrows aggregation process in the space and, to describe its possible relation to other spatial habitat configurations. Analysis of distances based on the Nearest Neighbor Index (NNI) and hotspots detection in Nearest neighbor hierarchical clustering (Nnh) suggested twelve (12) spatial clusters located within the study area. In addition, a spatial ordinary least square (OLS) and Poisson regression models revealed significant effects of soil type and vegetation cover on burrow parameters (OLS, p < 0.05; Poisson, p < 0.001), which indicate a strong association between burrows parameters and habitats characteristics. Findings from the study also suggest that other factors such as elevations, highways, and human settlement concentration spots could possibly play a major role in defining burrow spatial aggregation and furthermore have a significant impact on habitat selection. Elsevier 2021-09 2021-05-12 /pmc/articles/PMC8381032/ /pubmed/34466079 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.05.020 Text en © 2021 The Author(s) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Original Article
AlRashidi, Monif
Abdelgadir, Mohanad
Shobrak, Mohammed
Habitat selection by the Spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx aegyptia): A view from spatial analysis
title Habitat selection by the Spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx aegyptia): A view from spatial analysis
title_full Habitat selection by the Spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx aegyptia): A view from spatial analysis
title_fullStr Habitat selection by the Spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx aegyptia): A view from spatial analysis
title_full_unstemmed Habitat selection by the Spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx aegyptia): A view from spatial analysis
title_short Habitat selection by the Spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx aegyptia): A view from spatial analysis
title_sort habitat selection by the spiny-tailed lizard (uromastyx aegyptia): a view from spatial analysis
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8381032/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34466079
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.05.020
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