Visitors Now:
Total Visits:
Total Stories:
Profile image
Story Views

Now:
Last Hour:
Last 24 Hours:
Total:

Research on Anole Frugivory

Wednesday, December 19, 2012 19:21
% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.

(Before It's News)

Sondra Vega, a graduate student at the University of Puerto Rico, writes:

B4INREMOTE-aHR0cDovLzQuYnAuYmxvZ3Nwb3QuY29tL19JX3hhS3FRenh5WS9SNGc5Nm15WFJfSS9BQUFBQUFBQUFFSS9rRGRpTVI3OXRYby9zMzIwL2Fub2xlKzIrdW5kZXIramF3KyUyQiUyQi5qcGc=

A green anole eating a piece of fruit that fell from a bird feeder. Photo from http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I_xaKqQzxyY/R4g96myXR_I/

In lizards, omnivory/frugivory is considered unusual and particular of some species; even though dietary studies indicate that many species add plant products to their diet.  In spite of the fact that seeds and fruits have been reported in stomach content or fecal pellets of Anolis, their importance and contribution to the diet of these lizards is still unknown. At present, the general consensus is to categorize Anolis as strict insectivores.  Therefore the extent by which omnivory/frugivory plays a role in the Anolis diet still needs to be assessed.

My research aims to determine how the variations in food abundance in two forests at the northern limestone region of Puerto Rico affect the degree of omnivory/frugivory and trophic position of Anolis lizards. I am using stable isotope technology to analyze the omnivory/frugivory and trophic position of the Anolis lizard as well to quantify the importance of fruits to the diet of the omnivorous Anolis species.  Stable isotopes are a novel technique that has the potential to elucidate diets, capture interactions such as trophic omnivory, and track energy or mass flow through ecological communities.   The information will help to better comprehend the functional role of Anolis lizards in the dynamic and structure of food webs and in ecosystem function, as well as the dynamics of vegetation in tropical forests.  Although this project is focused on anole lizard species of Puerto Rico, the findings are of relevance for understanding of islands where lizards are also a dominant component of ecosystems.



Source:

Report abuse

Comments

Your Comments
Question   Razz  Sad   Evil  Exclaim  Smile  Redface  Biggrin  Surprised  Eek   Confused   Cool  LOL   Mad   Twisted  Rolleyes   Wink  Idea  Arrow  Neutral  Cry   Mr. Green

Top Stories
Recent Stories

Register

Newsletter

Email this story
Email this story

If you really want to ban this commenter, please write down the reason:

If you really want to disable all recommended stories, click on OK button. After that, you will be redirect to your options page.