Monitoring the effects of natural and anthropogenic habitat disturbance on the ecology and behavior of the San Diego coast horned lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum blainvillei)

Abstract

The sage scrub communities in which San Diego coast horned lizards (Phrynosoma coronatum blainvillei) typically occur are now restricted to only 10 to 15 percent of their former range and are currently subject to rapidly accelerating rates of loss. As a result of urban and agricultural development, pesticide use, collecting for the pet trade, off-road vehicle activity, and other human disturbance, San Diego horned lizards have undergone serious population declines in the last decade. In some areas, introduced exotic ant species have displaced the native harvester ants on which horned lizards depend. Because relatively little is known of the biology of coast horned lizards, basic information on their habitat and resource requirements, as well as their behavior and reproductive physiology, is critical to developing effective management plans for their survival.

Parent Publication

• Planning for biodiversity: bringing research and management together; Proceedings of a Symposium for the South Coast Ecoregion

Citation

Grant, Tandora D.; Alberts, Allison C. 2005. Monitoring the effects of natural and anthropogenic habitat disturbance on the ecology and behavior of the San Diego coast horned lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum blainvillei). In: Kus, Barbara E., and Beyers, Jan L., technical coordinators. Planning for Biodiversity: Bringing Research and Management Together. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-195. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture: 253-255