Searching the Bahamas for Lizard Droppings (IMAGE)
Caption
Rob Pringle searches for lizards to collect fecal samples for DNA metabarcoding. To study the impacts of invading predators, a Princeton-led team used three lizard species: one predator, the curly-tailed lizard (Leiocephalus carinatus, bottom left), and two prey species, green anoles (Anolis smaragdinus, top) and brown anoles (Anolis sagrei, bottom right). Their results appear in the June 6 issue of Nature. They found that the anoles could coexist peacefully, but introducing predators drove the brown anoles into the trees with the green anoles, intensifying competition and undermining their ability to coexist. Their results therefore challenge the generality of the keystone-predation hypothesis and support refuge competition.
Credit
Neil Losin, Day’s Edge Productions
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