Interannual variation in lizard communities in areas with and without vineyards in the central Monte Desert, Argentina

Abstract

The great variation in species’ responses to habitat fragmentation has made it difficult to identify trends that helppredict how populations and communities behave. This study aimed to characterize two lizard assemblages termsof diversity, population structure and body size, conducting an interannual comparison between areas with andwithout vineyards in the central Monte Desert of Argentina. Two sampling years were examined, comparing acultivated site with a non-cultivated site, between 2016 and 2019. Our findings indicate that the cultivated siteshowed more richness and lower diversity than the non-cultivated one; however, overall, the body size of thespecies at the non-cultivated site was greater, especially in the second year (2018–2019). Additionally, there wasa higher total abundance of lizards (species pool) at the non-cultivated site, with variation between seasonsacross years and within the same year, but with overall peak abundance during the summer. We conclude thatenvironmental factors and changes at the cultivated site affect the interannual structural parameters of thepopulations under study. This work contributes to future studies focused on the effect of agricultural activity onlizard populations, and to the development of conservation strategies that preserve lizard species and theirfunctionality in dry agroecosystem land.