Abstract
This study compared the microhabitat use, daily activity pattern and
diet of Liolaemus etheridgei Laurent 1998 in two Polylepis
woodlands: El Simbral (fragmented) and Tuctumpaya (unfragmented), in
Arequipa, Southern Peru. In both populations, we did not detect positive
selection for any microhabitat; however, the population at El Simbral
showed a negative selection for Polylepys trees while the Tuctumpaya
population showed negative selection for Polylepis trees and non-thorny
bushes. In El Simbral, active individuals were detected between 9:00 and
15:59h, whereas in Tuctumpaya, we detected active individuals from 8:00
to 17:59h. In both populations, observations of active individuals
dropped between 11:00 and 11:59h. We recorded 17 and 23 prey categories
in the El Simbral and Tuctumpaya populations respectively. The most
important animal prey category in each population was found to be
Lygaeidae: Hemiptera, and was the only animal prey category that was
selected for in El Simbral and Tuctumpaya. In addition, due to the
proportions of plant material found, the El Simbral was found to be
omnivorous, whereas the Tuctumpaya population was herbivorous. Trophic
niche breadth was broader in Tuctumpaya (B_a= 0.202) than the El
Simbral (B_a= 0.147) population, despite there being no significant
differences in diet (Permanova: F = 1.036, P = 0.409, permutations =
9999), which is coherent with the high value of trophic niche overlap
(O_(j,k) = 0.963). Our compiled data reveal that L. etheridgei
shows no selection for any of the resources we define in Polylepis
woodlands, on the contrary, it selects negatively against
Polylepis trees and non-thorny bushes. The daily activity
patterns indicate a bimodal pattern with peaks at 9:00-10:59 and
13:00-13:59 h. The diet of L. etheridgei consists mainly of
plants (%W: 66.373), and the most important animal prey category is
Lygaeidae: Hemiptera (%IRI = 55.3), which is selected positively.