engleski

TOP OR BOTTOM? Coexistence of two petrophilous lizard species on Mt. Biokovo, Croatia

The Mosor rock lizard is endemic Natura 2000 species with fragmented distribution in Dinaric Mountains of Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro. Knowledge about its occurrence in Croatia is based almost exclusively on unconfirmed historical data. In order to assess its current distribution, during 2017 we visited historical localities for this species. We recorded it on Mosor and Biokovo Mts., but we were not able to find it at Opor and Kozjak Mt. Biggest number of the individuals were observed on Mt. Biokovo, and accordingly, we chose it as a polygon for population studies. There we conducted the survey of species coexistence with other lizard species and their habitat preferences. On the site, only one another lacertid species, common wall lizard, Podarcis muralis occur sympatrically with Dinarolacerta mosorensis. In general, D. mosorensis is more common on the habitat than P. muralis, with species ratio being 2:1 in favour of D. mosorensis. Most of the individuals (88%) of D. mosorensis were found on large stone rocks and boulders in average 2 m from the ground while P. muralis lizards were found on the ground or on the small rocks (64%) in average 0, 78 m from the ground. Regarding daily activity both species were active from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Our preliminary results show that D. mosorensis is still numerous on Mt. Biokovo, and the utilization of different microhabitats allows its coexistence with P. muralis in the area.

Lacertidae, Dinarolacerta mosorensis , stanište, Podarcis mur alis

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