The effect of livestock grazing upon abundance of the lizard, Sceloporus scalaris, in southeastern Arizona
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Authors: C. E. Bock, H. M. Smith, and J. H. Bock
Date: 1990
Journal: Journal of Herpetology
Volume: 24
Number: 4
Pages: 445-446
Summary of Methods: Bock et al. looked at the effect that long term cattle grazing has had on the habitat selection of the bunchgrass lizard in southwest Arizona. Bock et al. found that lizards were ten times more abundant on a research sanctuary that has been excluded from grazing for twenty years as compared to the surrounding grassland that has been grazed for a century or more. The bunchgrass lizard is a species that is quite vulnerable to predation without ample cover, such as bunch grass or woody plants. It was initially assumed that the lizard was only found in the high montane meadows of the Santa Rita and Huachuca mountains, but Bock et al. insists that the lizards have taken to these high elevations because they have been flushed out of the grasslands due to intensive cattle grazing.
Article Summary / Main Points: None
Vegetation Types:
MLRA Ecoregions:
Agrovoc Control Words: Riparian zones Rangelands Wildlife
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Experimental Research
Keywords: habitat degradation, bunch grass, predation
Annotation: The study was performed by flushing lizards out of grass and shrubby areas and counting how many they saw based on movement. This was the only variable measured.
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