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Evolutionary, molecular and comparative zoology
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 55(1)

Microhabitat separation and niche overlap among five assemblages of tropical skinks

Brett A. Goodman
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia.

B Email: brett.goodman@jcu.edu.au

Australian Journal of Zoology 55(1) 15-27 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO06066
Submitted: 6 August 2006  Accepted: 10 January 2007   Published: 23 March 2007

Abstract

The niche axes of microhabitat use, activity and size for 21 skink species from five assemblages (Alligator Creek, Cairns, Chillagoe, Cooktown and Mt Bartle Frere) in the biodiverse tropics of north-east Queensland were examined. Species within the same assemblage separated predominantly along two structural microhabitat gradients; one that ranged from microhabitats dominated by large rocks to leaf litter and total ground cover, and a second defined by increasing leaf litter, ground cover, undergrowth, proximity to vegetation and increased canopy cover. All species used available microhabitats non-randomly, with species from the same ecotype (arboreal, generalist, litter-dwelling, rock-using) clustering in multivariate ecological space. Despite evidence of within-assemblage niche overlap, null-model comparisons revealed that only one assemblage (Chillagoe) had greater niche overlap than would be expected by chance. Assemblages with more species occupied smaller niche space, indicating species packing. However, species with more diverse niches were less evenly packed. While most species overlapped in activity time and body size, differences among species from the same ecotype were observed. Despite subtle differences in temporal activity and body size, differences in structural microhabitat use appears to be the dominant niche axis allowing the coexistence of species within these assemblages of tropical skinks.


Acknowledgements

This work was supported by funding from the Peter Rankin Trust Fund in Herpetology, the Rainforest CRC, the Joyce W. Vickery fund (Linnean Society of New South Wales), the Ecological Society of Australia, the Royal Zoological Society of NSW and a JCU supplemental IRA. Animals were collected under QPWS Scientific Purposes Permit No. F1/000253/99/SAA. I thank J. Isaac, E. Ritchie, L. Schwarzkopf and L. Valentine for commenting on an earlier version of this paper.


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