Ee. Jorgensen et S. Demarais, Herpetofauna associated with arroyos and uplands in foothills of the chihuahuan desert, SW NATURAL, 43(4), 1998, pp. 441-448
Arroyos form distinctive habitats in desert foothhills. To document herpeto
faunal habitat associations with arroyos we operated 16 drift fences (eight
in arroyos, eight on uplands) for 4,152 drift fence nights during spring a
nd fall, 1993-1994. Only Scaphiopus couchii demonstrated an association for
arroyo habitat, and only during fall 1993. Cnemidophorzus mannoratus and C
. exsanquis demonstrated possible seasonal associations with uplands. Stati
stical tests are characterized by low power, apparently resulting from smal
l observed differences in relative abundance between habitats. Small observ
ed differences suggest that, with some exceptions, arroyos versus uplands i
s not a habitat contrast of relevance to herpetofauna. A posteriori canonic
al correspondence analysis was applied to produce an ordination of species
with six structural habitat variables (shrub cover, grass and forb cover at
two heights, amount of detritus, stones and rocks, and sand on the substra
te). This comparison, although suggesting a tendency for herpetofauna to fa
vor arroyos, failed to show a significant relationship between herpetofauna
and environmental variables. This study suggests that environmental variab
les other than those directly related to vegetation will be important deter
minants of herpetofaunal habitat suitability.