Microclimatic features of Carlia rubrigularis habitats, a study at Lake Eacham Characterising Carlia rubrigularis habitat microclimate

Abstract

This study looked at the habitats and behavioural characteristics of the leaf litter rainbow-skink (Carlia rubrigularis) at Lake Eacham within the Australian Wet Tropics. The Australian Wet Tropics bioregion contains both complex ecosystems and a diverse range of habitats, and is therefore conducive for studying functional ecology. Here, we aimed to characterise the microclimates of lizard habitats in the forest interior and at the forest edge. We measured two aspects of the lizard microclimates: the leaf litter on the surface of the forest floor, and the topsoil covered by the leaf litter. In the end, we found that leaf litter and topsoil temperatures are similar in the forest interior but are more different at the forest edge. Moreover, leaf litter temperature was found to be more variable in forest-edge habitats. Secondly, basking behaviours in C. rubrigularis were only observed when the leaf litter temperatures were higher than the topsoil covered by the leaf litter. Together, these findings may help guiding the design and parameterisation of more accurate habitat prediction models for C. rubrigularis as well as other more endangered skink species to facilitate conservation in the face of climate change.