Microhabitat use, daily activity pattern and diet of Liolaemus etheridgei in the Andean Polylepis forests of Arequipa, Peru

<p class="MsoNormal"><span>This study describes the microhabitat use, daily activity pattern and diet of</span><span> </span><em><span>Liolaemus etheridgei</span></em><span> </span><span>Laurent 1998 in</span><span> the</span><span> El Simbral and Tuctumpaya</span><span> </span><em><span>Polylepis</span></em><span> </span><span>forests in Arequipa, Peru. El Simbral is a fragmented forest, whereas Tuctumpaya is unfragmented.</span><span> O</span><span>ur results reveal that</span><span> </span><em><span>L. etheridgei</span></em><span> </span><span>shows no positive selection for any of the microhabitats we identified in</span><span> </span><em><span>Polylepis</span></em><span> </span><span>forests; on the contrary, it selects negatively against</span><span> </span><em><span>Polylepis</span></em><span> </span><span>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</span><span> </span><em><span>L. etheridgei</span></em><span> </span><span>consists mainly of plant material, and the most important animal prey category is Lygaeidae: Hemiptera, which is selected</span><span> for</span><span> positively. In particular, microhabitat selection varied </span><span>for</span><span> non-thorny bushes, which were selected negatively in the Tuctumpaya population but neither positively nor negatively in the El Simbral population. According to the proportions of plant material found, the</span><span> </span><em><span>L. etheridgei</span></em><span> </span><span>from El Simbral w</span><span>ere</span><span> found to be omnivorous, whereas the Tuctumpaya population </span><span>was</span><span>herbivorous. However, </span><span>the percentage of </span><span>plant material</span><span> consumed in the El Simbral</span><span> </span><span>population was</span><span> close to the critical value for herbivory-omnivory. We conclude that the three ecological aspects</span><span> of </span><em><span>L. etheridgei</span></em><span> studied </span><span>here </span><span>are virtually identica</span><span>l</span><span> </span><span>in</span><span> El Simbral and Tuctumpaya; therefore, </span><span>this species is not </span><span>affected significantly by the </span><span>current</span><span> fragmentation</span><span> of forest</span><span>.</span></p>