ANOLINE DIVERSITY IN 3 DIFFERENTIALLY ALTERED HABITATS IN THE SIERRA-DE-BAORUCO, REPUBLICA-DOMIMICANA, HISPANIOLA

We examined three disturbed, but distinctly different, sires on the hi storically forested eastern slope of the Sierra de Baoruco, Provincia de Barahona, Republica Dominicana, in order to evaluate the impact of habitat alteration on the composition of anoline lizard communities. F ive species of Anolis (A. bahorucoensis, A. barahonae, A. coelestinus, A. cybotes, A. distichus) are known to occur in the immediate area of our study sites. Only three were found in the most substantially alte red clear-cut site, whereas all five species occupied the most heterog eneous habitat, a coffee plantation characterized by a three-tiered ca nopy. Similarly, numbers of individuals of all but one species were gr eatest in the plot that most closely resembled the natural forests in this area. Calculated niche breadths, based on analysis of stomach con tents, of the three species found in all sites increased with the degr ee of habitat alteration. The higher number of A coelestinus in more h eavily altered sites may be attributed to density compensation.