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Revealing microhabitat requirements of an endangered specialist lizard with LiDAR
A central principle of threatened species management is the requirement for detailed understanding of species habitat requirements. Difficult terrain or cryptic behaviour can, however, make the study of habitat or microhabitat requirements difficult, calling for innovative data collection techniques...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Nature Publishing Group UK
2022
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8956745/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35338156 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-08524-2 |
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author | Bradley, Holly S. Craig, Michael D. Cross, Adam T. Tomlinson, Sean Bamford, Michael J. Bateman, Philip W. |
author_facet | Bradley, Holly S. Craig, Michael D. Cross, Adam T. Tomlinson, Sean Bamford, Michael J. Bateman, Philip W. |
author_sort | Bradley, Holly S. |
collection | PubMed |
description | A central principle of threatened species management is the requirement for detailed understanding of species habitat requirements. Difficult terrain or cryptic behaviour can, however, make the study of habitat or microhabitat requirements difficult, calling for innovative data collection techniques. We used high-resolution terrestrial LiDAR imaging to develop three-dimensional models of log piles, quantifying the structural characteristics linked with occupancy of an endangered cryptic reptile, the western spiny-tailed skink (Egernia stokesii badia). Inhabited log piles were generally taller with smaller entrance hollows and a wider main log, had more high-hanging branches, fewer low-hanging branches, more mid- and understorey cover, and lower maximum canopy height. Significant characteristics linked with occupancy were longer log piles, an average of three logs, less canopy cover, and the presence of overhanging vegetation, likely relating to colony segregation, thermoregulatory requirements, and foraging opportunities. In addition to optimising translocation site selection, understanding microhabitat specificity of E. s. badia will help inform a range of management objectives, such as targeted monitoring and invasive predator control. There are also diverse opportunities for the application of this technology to a wide variety of future ecological studies and wildlife management initiatives pertaining to a range of cryptic, understudied taxa. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8956745 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Nature Publishing Group UK |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-89567452022-03-30 Revealing microhabitat requirements of an endangered specialist lizard with LiDAR Bradley, Holly S. Craig, Michael D. Cross, Adam T. Tomlinson, Sean Bamford, Michael J. Bateman, Philip W. Sci Rep Article A central principle of threatened species management is the requirement for detailed understanding of species habitat requirements. Difficult terrain or cryptic behaviour can, however, make the study of habitat or microhabitat requirements difficult, calling for innovative data collection techniques. We used high-resolution terrestrial LiDAR imaging to develop three-dimensional models of log piles, quantifying the structural characteristics linked with occupancy of an endangered cryptic reptile, the western spiny-tailed skink (Egernia stokesii badia). Inhabited log piles were generally taller with smaller entrance hollows and a wider main log, had more high-hanging branches, fewer low-hanging branches, more mid- and understorey cover, and lower maximum canopy height. Significant characteristics linked with occupancy were longer log piles, an average of three logs, less canopy cover, and the presence of overhanging vegetation, likely relating to colony segregation, thermoregulatory requirements, and foraging opportunities. In addition to optimising translocation site selection, understanding microhabitat specificity of E. s. badia will help inform a range of management objectives, such as targeted monitoring and invasive predator control. There are also diverse opportunities for the application of this technology to a wide variety of future ecological studies and wildlife management initiatives pertaining to a range of cryptic, understudied taxa. Nature Publishing Group UK 2022-03-25 /pmc/articles/PMC8956745/ /pubmed/35338156 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-08524-2 Text en © The Author(s) 2022 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . |
spellingShingle | Article Bradley, Holly S. Craig, Michael D. Cross, Adam T. Tomlinson, Sean Bamford, Michael J. Bateman, Philip W. Revealing microhabitat requirements of an endangered specialist lizard with LiDAR |
title | Revealing microhabitat requirements of an endangered specialist lizard with LiDAR |
title_full | Revealing microhabitat requirements of an endangered specialist lizard with LiDAR |
title_fullStr | Revealing microhabitat requirements of an endangered specialist lizard with LiDAR |
title_full_unstemmed | Revealing microhabitat requirements of an endangered specialist lizard with LiDAR |
title_short | Revealing microhabitat requirements of an endangered specialist lizard with LiDAR |
title_sort | revealing microhabitat requirements of an endangered specialist lizard with lidar |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8956745/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35338156 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-08524-2 |
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