The Herpetological Journal
The Herpetological Journal is the Society's prestigious quarterly scientific journal. Articles are listed in Biological Abstracts, Current Awareness in Biological Sciences,Current Contents, Science Citation Index, and Zoological Record.
ISSN 0268-0130
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pdf 10. Microhabitat use by the Critically Endangered Madagascar endemic tortoise, Pyxis arachnoides
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Open Access
pp. 63-66
Authors: Walker, Ryan C.J.; Luiselli, Luca; Woods-Ballard, Andy J. & Rix, Charlotte E.
Abstract: We studied microhabitat use by the threatened Malagasy endemic spider tortoise (Pyxis arachnoides) during the wet and the dry season of Madagascar's Southern Dry Forest. In total, 282 tortoises were captured and marked. Microhabitat selection was dependent on the interaction term 'age × sex' (with curved carapace length as a covariate), but neither dependent on season, sex and age taken independently. Juveniles favoured areas of denser vegetation cover than more mature animals, which typically selected the microhabitat types in relation to their relative availability. Controlling the subsistence harvest of fuel wood within the region is an important conservation initiative to increase the recruitment of reproductively mature tortoises into the population.
Keywords: SPIDER TORTOISE, MADAGASCAR, MICROHABITAT, ECOLOGY
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