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3332613 
Journal Article 
MICROHABITAT SELECTION BY A HABITAT SPECIALIST AND A GENERALIST IN BOTH FRAGMENTED AND UNFRAGMENTED LANDSCAPES 
Hibbitts, TJ; Ryberg, WA; Adams, CS; Fields, AM; Lay, D; Young, ME 
2013 
Yes 
Herpetological Conservation and Biology
ISSN: 1931-7603 
8 
1 
104-113 
WOS:000327352400009 
Habitat loss and fragmentation are leading causes of species declines and extirpations. Such changes to habitat have been shown to negatively affect specialist species more than generalists. The mechanism behind this negative effect is associated with changes to the specific elements of the habitat that specialist species require. Here we focus on the effects of habitat fragmentation on microhabitat selection by specialist and generalist species of lizards in the unique Mescalero/Monahans Sand Dune ecosystem in the southwestern USA. The Dunes Sagebrush Lizard (Sceloporus arenicolus) is a specialist species only found in this ecosystem and the Common Side-blotched Lizard (Uta stansburiana) is a generalist species found in a variety of ecosystems throughout western North America. We found that fragmentation in this ecosystem altered available microhabitats in that fragmented sites had shallower slopes and more compacted soils than unfragmented sites. Both S. arenicolus and U. stansburiana selected microhabitats independent of their availability in fragmented versus unfragmented sites, therefore, fragmentation had no effect on microhabitat selection for either species. When comparing the two lizard species, S. arenicolus selected steeper, more open sites than U. stansburiana, which selected sites with shallower slopes, associated with more vegetation structure. These results show that fragmentation in this ecosystem alters the available microhabitats that are preferred by both species, but because its geographic range is more limited, this will likely have a larger negative impact on the specialist species. These results provide support for the utility of the specialist-generalist concept in predicting extinction risk in this system. 
habitat loss; lizard; oil and gas development; Sceloporus arenicolus; Uta stansburiana