Cr. Trainor et Jcz. Woinarski, RESPONSES OF LIZARDS TO 3 EXPERIMENTAL FIRES IN THE SAVANNA FORESTS OF KAKADU-NATIONAL-PARK, Wildlife research, 21(2), 1994, pp. 131-148
A species-rich lizard community responded variably to a range of exper
imental fire regimes in a tropical savanna. Heteronotia binoei was the
only lizard species that showed a short-term response to fire, decrea
sing in abundance directly after the early- and late-bums. H. binoei a
nd Diporiphora bilineata were significantly more abundant in early-bur
n treatments. Carlia amax was more abundant in unburnt and early-burn
treatments. C. munda was more abundant in unburnt and early-burn sites
. Differences in the relative abundance of species between treatments
is attributed to site differences in vegetation structure, and fire-in
duced changes to the structure of habitat. Early-burn sites were signi
ficantly richer in lizard species (P<0.05); however, overall lizard ab
undance, Shannon-Wiener diversity and Detrended Correspondence Analysi
s (DCA) 1 and DCA 2 scores were not significantly different, suggestin
g that habitat partitioning has a stronger influence than the direct e
ffects of fire. Many lizards were associated with a direct gradient of
moisture availability, including a seepage assemblage, with Carlia gr
acilis and Sphenomorphus darwiniensis correlated with increased moistu
re, a well-developed canopy and abundant leaf litter. An assemblage as
sociated with the drier end of the gradient included Carlia triacantha
, Ctenotus kurnbudj, Diporiphora magna and D. bilineata. The lizard co
mposition of most quadrats was intermediate along the moisture gradien
t and was associated with typical eucalypt savanna communities. Lizard
species that largely are restricted to the moist seepage zones may be
particularly sensitive to late dry-season fires which alter this habi
tat type.