Habitat restoration for endemic lizards in an oilfield in Payunia, Argentina

Abstract

Habitat loss continues to be one of the major threats to biodiversity worldwide and anthropogenic disturbance is the leading cause. Among them, fossil fuel extraction results in the complete modification of habitats at the local scale. This is the case in the Auca Mahuida Nature Reserve in Argentina, characterized by a high richness of lizards and the existence of several endemic taxa. Our objective was to assess the effectiveness of constructed rock shelters to serve as refuges for these species. We selected eight impacted sites (due to vegetation removal and top soil loss) associated with abandoned oil extraction platforms and roads, where we manually built 77 rock shelters, stacking disperse fragments of basalt and andesite from the surroundings. We recorded all individuals seen at each of the shelters. All the restored sites were used by lizards, comprising seven species in total, including Liolaemidae and Leiosauiridae. The number of shelters per restored site explained the lizard abundance and age structure, which can be interpreted as adult settlement rather than juvenile dispersion. This study represents an innovating experience in a region where fossil fuel extraction impacts on the habitat of endemic lizard assemblages. The use of natural materials available in the surroundings of sites, which minimizes restoration costs, the simplicity of the measure and its potential impact on species with a high conservation value, may be attractive enough to guarantee the implementation of this measure by oil companies in the area.