Competition amongst endemic lizard species on a tropical island (Round Island, Mauritius)

毛里求斯的圆岛拥有稀有的地方性蜥蜴物种群落。通过引进山羊和兔子(现已被淘汰)，他们的环境中大部分植被都被清除了。Durrell野生动物保护信托基金、毛里求斯野生动物基金会和政府国家公园和保护服务局之间的伙伴关系使栖息地得以恢复，并随之恢复了以爬行动物为主的脊椎动物群落(Cole等人。2018年)。这种爬行动物物种在植物群落恢复过程中占据了一席之地，但人们对无脊椎动物猎物的可用性知之甚少。事实证明，石龙子和壁虎对环境变化的适应能力非常强，尽管一些物种已经从岛上的爬行动物群落中灭绝。爬行动物很可能最初适应了不同的生态位，包括让它们避免直接竞争的营养生态位。其中一个物种，特尔费尔的石龙子，是一个多面手，消耗着广泛的不同分类群。其他物种可能具有更窄的生态位轴线，并且更具专业性。

Round Island, Mauritius, hosts a community of rare endemic lizard species. Their environment was cleared of most vegetation by introduced goats and rabbits (now eliminated). A partnership between the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Mauritian Wildlife Foundation and the Government's National Parks and Conservation Service has permitted the restoration of habitat and with it the recovery of the reptile-dominated vertebrate community (Cole et al. 2018). The reptile species occupy a landscape going through plant community recovery, but little is known about availability of the invertebrate prey. The skinks and geckos have proved to be remarkably resilient to environmental change, although some species were extirpated from the island's reptile community. It is likely the reptiles originally adapted to different niches, including trophic niches that allowed them to avoid direct competition. One species, the Telfair's skink, is a generalist, consuming a wide range of different taxonomic groups. Other species may have narrower niche axes and be more specialised.