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RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)
Contents Vol 30(3)

Annual response patterns in activity and demographic parameters of reptile species occupying a predictable Mediterranean climate

Richard A. How https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1113-5114 A B *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Human Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.

B Collections and Research, Western Australian Museum, Welshpool DC, WA 6986, Australia.

* Correspondence to: ric.how@uwa.edu.au, richow1944@gmail.com

Handling Editor: Mike Calver

Pacific Conservation Biology 30, PC24016 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC24016
Submitted: 5 March 2024  Accepted: 14 May 2024  Published: 6 June 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Annual patterns in behaviour and demography define longer-term changes in reptile populations, probability of species detection and risks of local extinction.

Aims

To determine seasonal activity and demographic parameters of species in an isolated assemblage adapted to a seasonally predictable climate.

Methods

A 37-year pitfall trapping, capture–release study in a 338-ha inner-city bushland experiencing a Mediterranean climate. Pit trap methodology changed after 7 years.

Results

Reproductive activity of 29 species peaked during austral spring to early summer with hatching or births occurring from late summer to early autumn. Growth, as determined from size changes over demi-monthly periods, indicated sexual maturity varied from <1 year to 5 years. Five of eight uniquely marked species had longevity exceeding a decade while individuals within six species moved over a kilometre. Dimorphism in adult length and mass was significantly greater in females for 15 of the 18 species with adequate data. Adult male activity peaked earlier in spring than adult females’ over the latter 30 years; hatchlings had different species-specific activity and annual cohort survival patterns. Activity declined in adults through summer and autumn before brumation in late autumn and winter in all species and age-size categories. Capture frequency in most species changed between methodologies.

Conclusions

Species had broadly similar seasonal activity but different demographic parameters within an isolated reptile assemblage currently experiencing increasing temperature and declining rainfall.

Implications

Comprehending seasonal variation is essential for interpreting decadal-long changes in reptile numbers experiencing a drying climate that alters activity, reproduction and survival to inform species detectability and likely extinction risk.

Keywords: activity, demographic parameters, detectability, local extinction risk, longevity, movement, reproduction, reptile populations, seasonal variation.

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